Appomattox Court House
by AnyTakersRP
Summary: Lucifer is tormenting Sam once more, but Sam doesn't know what is real and what is not. A few little surprises are thrown in also for Sam, for Castiel and for The Devil himself. Can you tell what's real or not? Let me know by reading/reviewing! Cross over with Lost, The Island as a signification. A lot of things are going on which will lead up to a very thrilling climax
1. Are You There It's Me Lucifer

Sam tossed and turned in a cheap motel bed as his dreams were tormented by The Devil himself. What was real? What wasn't he just didn't know as he watch Lucifer walk the halls late at night of the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Lucifer felt a sort of irony, he isn't without it most of the time but especially now in this empty Court House. This was where the Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrendered. Lee sat at a marble-topped table on the left, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at the table on the right of the very room that Lucifer had now entered. The American Civil war was just one of Lucifer's bright examples on how humanity is nothing but a barrel of maggots killing each other in an attempt to survive, yet are rewarded when they can fly upwards towards the heavens. More people die in the name of the lord, than in any natural disasters, disease or gangways. Before guns there were swords and they were killing each other, and what's changed to this day, still killing each other. To have such filthy creatures plaguing what Lucifer had once called his home was a disgusting and left a rather distasteful after thought.

Lucifer made his way to the table in which Ulysses sat, he ran his hands across it causing it to cackle and burn beneath his finger tips giving it a rather tormented appearance. He was aware of Sam's presence in the room but also made out to be ignoring him, of course Lucifer only let Sam know what he want him to know. Leaning on the table, Lucifer waited impatiently for his appointment to arrive. He would assume it would take a lot longer than expected, after all he was _fallen_, though not in the strictest sense of the word. He was without Heaven's grace, they turned the tap off on his powers, although calling himself the new God and father, heightened Lucifer interests. He was quite looking forward to it.

Lucifer wouldn't care about this one lone angel if it weren't for the fact of his relationship with humanity, specifically the chosen vessels Sam and Dean Winchester. Aside from Gabriel and a very few handful of others, Castiel was the most important. His relationship and influence has helped the Winchester's struggle against fate, and it was only appropriate that Lucifer meet the _man_ face to face without turning him to jam once more. Angel of the lord, true to his word he hoped that Castiel wouldn't back out. He wasn't going to harm him, only talk to him and try to sway him over to his way of thinking and show torment Sam's dreams. Sam just didn't know if it was real or not and Lucifer is very convincing when it comes to swaying the minds of humans. Lucifer had many followers in the angelic garrison, but since the death of Uriel it hadn't been a lucrative group of followers. He could still have some angelic followers, he just has no means of figuring out who is who, and giving away his position so easily can interfere with his work. Last thing he needed was Angels breathing down his neck every waking moment of existence.

Lucifer was Heavens top wanted, he was also Hell's most wanted too. Oh the sheering irony of that. He chuckled to himself, Heaven and Hell regaining forces for him? He felt special. But, he hoped that Castiel realised, that after Heaven was done with him and if he continued to rebel against them, he would be their next most wanted Angel. That is after, they try and, he is looking forward to them trying and probably not succeeded in killing him first.

Lucifer looked at the ticking clock in the corner, he grew frustrated and annoyed at the sheer tardiness but it's to be expected. He, however growled low under his breath at his own rationalization. The Devil can be bested by few, but among those, is he, the devil, himself. Always reminded in cultural references and literature that he is vain, selfish and self absorbed, although to a degree those can all seem to be very true, he isn't stupid. This isn't a fairy tale. The end of the world is a very real thing and he's going to make sure it happens with or without the help of the other angels.

The first thought that crossed his mind was if Lucifer knew of the irony of the situation. This meeting place seemed rather strange and oddly specific. Of course, Castiel wasn't going to question it. He had been drawn here like a moth to a flame. All he could hear was the sound of his brother's voice; calling him. Perhaps he was a fool for coming. Maybe he was walking in to greet his own death. If so, he was prepared to greet it with open arms - or wings. He was no coward. Even stripped of his heavenly powers and Purgatory's most ancient beasts running through him, he was still an angel of the lord and he had a duty to uphold. In fact Lucifer should be scared of him the beasts inside of him were in fact stronger then The Devil could imagine. He would meet with Lucifer, find out what he wanted, and report back to Sam and Dean if they were talking to him. The chances of him spilling his plans and sharing his inner thoughts were low but there had to be a reason for summoning him, here, right?

How long should he keep Lucifer waiting? This constant thought bombarded his thinking system. Unusually for Castiel, the not knowing what Lucifer wanted was doing something to his human vessel. This earthen body which he used to move about the earth had the oddest sensations at the most inconvenient times. Take the need to lose water from the body every now again, how do humans manage to control this need to constantly go to 'toilet'? and what is its purpose? why bother putting anything into the vessel at the top, if it has to come out further down the body? and this affects every human, still unable to comprehend the mechanics of the human vessel and its constant need for maintenance and re-fuelling Castiel also has all the "feelings" and "body responses" to deal with.

Doubt was beginning to cloud his mind, not his judgement and he started to second guess his decision to come. It was too late now though, by now, the Archangel had no doubt sensed, his presence. Castiel could feel him in some way. He could feel him in the air around him; a dark force that lingered over the area. Humans would probably call it a sixth sense of sorts. His deep breaths were visible in the cold air; creating a small patch of fog around. Breathing. It was something foreign to him, something he hadn't needed to do before. There were a lot of things that he needed to do now. Without Heaven's power, he was essentially... human. Not fully though. He still possessed some abilities but nothing that would aid him, should the events of tonight turn ugly. _I never told Dean where I was going._ That fact hit him suddenly. No one knew where he was. No one had any clue as to what had happened to him. If something did go wrong, he was completely and utterly alone.

Since being giving the commission of Personal Body Guard to Dean Winchester human feelings and emotions were "growing" on him for want of a better word. You can't be around all these humans, day in, day out and not let them affect your thinking one way or another. In heaven everything is very much "God's Way" with no ability or facility to veer off God's chosen path, yet here on earth, humans have freedom of choice and free will to choose God's way or Lucifer's way. The killings of the recent priests and people who made a prophet out of God's name was righteous in his mind, though, that was also like the Leviathan were playing with him, it was hard to hold them down on occasions and that was killing the vessel.

There is no other choice despite what humans rationalise and twist to suit their circumstances. If only humans understood this, they actually have a choice, for angels, it is completely different. Angels aren't supposed to think for themselves, merely carry out orders from the last heavenly being with the most authority.

Why in all of the universe, would Lucifer want to meet with Castiel? Castiel could think of a hundred different angels who would more than happily act as double-angels for heaven and hell. Look at Uriel, for as long as Castiel had worked with Uriel, he never picked up on him working for the enemy until it was far too late to do anything about it. Uriel would've been the last angel in God's solar system he would have thought would turn against his own species and true family. Perhaps it was because he was staunch in his beliefs in doing "the right thing" for his Heavenly Father that made Castiel such a target? Where is Dean when you need him? Thinking how Dean would look at this current predicament and the words he would use to describe Lucifer and his tactics. Castiel decided it would be best not to bring the boys into this meeting, he would do this alone. After all, it wasn't the first time he had met Lucifer on earth, and he had one of these vessel feelings it wouldn't be the last.

Time means nothing to an angel, it is merely an earthly measuring system used to sequence events and to quantify the rates of change such as the motion of objects. There is no such thing as "time" in heaven; everything flows smoothly and freely with no measuring system in place. Earth, however was different, these humans were almost obsessed with this measuring system, some even emitting unusual behaviour if their need for control was abused by another human who did not adhere to their orders or decision. Castiel wondered if Lucifer had be-littled himself from Angelic being to humanoid and if he had started to obsess over time the way humans did?

Castiel's hands balled into fist as he stared at the darkened building before him. Why here? Why now? Why him? Of all the places in the world, why this spot? His footsteps seemed loud as he walked along the path, eyes scanning anything and everything. Lucifer was here. Close. His fingers curled around the handle of the door and to his surprise, it was unlocked. Yes, he was most certainly here. He'd left the doors open for him. With a deep breath he threw open the doors and stepped inside the building.

"Castiel…" Sam said with a questioning look, loud enough for him to hear but Castiel seemed to ignore him, or he was invisible right now. "CAS…" he got no recognition back from either Castiel or Lucifer as Sam watched the being enter the room.

Blue eyes almost instantly adjusting to the change in lighting. The dark, ominous feeling had intensified, maybe that was due to his vessel, or maybe because he had been switched off from Heaven. He also swore he could smell something burning. Which told him that he was most certainly in the right place. Sucking in a deep breath he strode onwards, unblinking, hands hanging by his sides, doing his best to mask the fear that was beginning to swell inside of him.

Lucifer had sensed Castiel coming, when he finally approached within a fair distance of the establishment a small smirk occupied across his lips. He sat at his newly forged and altered desk and ran his hands along it. More so, admiring his handy work at twisting yet another one of humanities creations into his own liking. No matter what, they, or his father, makes, Lucifer planed to show the ugliness of it. Even angels themselves, he being the prime example and Castiel hopefully being another. Sitting in Ulysses altered desk, he stared at the empty one across from him as the door slowly opened as Castiel entered. Smirking, Lucifer said nothing but gestured to the other empty desk. Casually he sat, kicking his feet up onto the table and picking at the blood and gore beneath his nails from earlier that day. Of course, he could simply will it away but he liked the work it took to pick pagen from beneath his vessel's nails!

"Welcome Castiel, please have a seat. We have much to discuss." Lucifer wouldn't wait for Castiel to sit, if he did or not, Lucifer used his powers to pull out the chair, gesturing again for the lesser Angel to sit. If he chose not to, he would continue to use his powers to force him down. The Devil's fingers idly working still, at picking the blood beneath his nails. Castiel was just another Angel to Lucifer, when they were in Heaven, he paid him no heed. He wasn't anything special or to admire. Lucifer couldn't stand that vessel, oh how he would love to wear Jimmy for a day and show up what he truley prayed for and too. Yes that's right, he was still wired up to angel radio and heard Jimmy pray for an angel. Pathetic and weak. He was just another face. However now, Castiel's importance in the grand scheme of things was fairly present. He worked closely with the chosen vessel, he helped thwart Heaven's plan and not only that he would like to admit his own. Despite being a powerless maggot, Castiel was a least worthy of a couple minutes of Lucifer's attention.

"You seem different brother, is that because daddies favourites decided to cut you off from the trust fund he left behind?" Lucifer was referring to his powers and Castiel couldn't help but wonder if Lucifer even knew about Purgatory running through his veins. Lucifer continued. "You really need to learn how to be obedient, I'm sure you've upset your superiors. Not that it matters anymore, you, like a few others, have chosen your side and you choose Humanity. If anything, I hate that humanity group of angels, then I hate Michael and the rest of daddies little helpers..." Lucifer sensed that Castiel was going to butt in at this stage. With a wave of his hand, he brought the chair up and wiped Castiel of his feet and bound to the chair. "Let me finish" Lucifer said slightly annoyed.

"Where was I... hate yes... Though hate isn't going to get me anywhere is it? Not with you, no Castiel. I know what you want. You want your powers back. I can give them to you." Lucifer leaned over on his desk, levelling his gaze with Castiel behind the desk opposite him.

There he was, the Devil himself. Seated at a rather ominous looking desk. He certainly had the flair for being dramatic but he guessed it was all part of the game. This was most certainly a game. The winner simply hadn't been chosen yet. That was what made it all the more dangerous. He couldn't foresee the outcome of this meeting. He could of course, guess how it might end. Chances seemed good that it would end bloody. He had come here without a plan and no back up. The odds did not appear to be in his favour. When his brother announced that they had much to discuss that was perhaps an understatement. There was much to discuss, that was for sure, but Castiel doubted anything The Devil said would be what he wanted to hear. Perhaps Lucifer thought he could be swayed to 'his way of thinking'. Foolish, the very notion. He'd already chosen his side, had given up his place in Heaven for the side he felt, no, knew was the right one. He gave the chair a look before ignoring the offer to sit. Sitting felt like a bad choice. Much too vulnerable. Instead he simply stood in one spot; blue eyes locked on Lucifer.

Lucifer's words caught him off guard; his shock showing through on his features. Why was his brother giving him a lecture on following orders? It was all a little hypocritical and absurd. Lucifer, preaching obedience? And hatred. Of course the hatred was there. He could see it in the eyes of The Devil, Lucifer hated Castiel for choosing Humanity. It was to be expected though. Lucifer had never respected their father's creation. He'd always considered them lower beings. Perhaps the most worrying part of this whole ideal was the fact that Lucifer seemed to have acknowledged what side he had chosen and was not going to try and sway him.

It was a lie of course. The Devil did have a silver tongue. However he still felt Jimmy's heartbeat speed up at the mention of getting his powers back. A deal with The devil in order to return to Heaven? The very notion was laughable. Being without Heavenly powers was one thing, being at the mercy of Lucifer was another. Showing no response to Lucifer's threats was part of the course in heaven. Growing up in heaven Lucifer and Gabriel were continuously playing pranks on unsuspecting angels, each trying to out do and out wit the other. Of course it was Lucifer who took the time to show Gabriel the meticulous attention to detail required for a prank to be truly worthy of heavenly recognition. Over time and with a lot of patience and practice Gabriel had earned his skills and of course, his patience.

Castiel had been blessed with learning patience from Gabriel. It was a well known fact that if you wished to exercise patience, you had to learn from the best. In heaven you were only ever taught by the best in their field. This Heavenly learning period required the utmost concentration from the student with devoted time to their studies. For Castiel this period of tutoring from Gabriel had taught him to be unwavering in unexpected situations, to always expect the unexpected and to always, under any circumstance, always show you anticipated your opponents reaction. But still, it was tempting in a forbidden kind of way. Could he do it? Lucifer did possess a large amount of power. Maybe he shouldn't be considering IF The Devil could resume his powers, but rather, WHAT did he want in return for such a thing. After all, Lucifer had just told him that he hated Castiel, perhaps more than Michael. That was pretty serious. Better yet, he really should be wondering if he was even going to get out of here alive.

Returning Lucifer's ice cold glare, he was about to stop his brother in mid conversation to simply ask what he wanted when he was forcibly forced into the chair. Sam ran to the front of the court room to seemingly help Castiel but there had been an unnoticeable force holding him back and stopping him going any further. He felt helpless at the moment as his hands ran around his waistline to catch hold of a gun he kept down the back of his trousers. He seemed to panic ever so slightly when his hands felt nothing of a weapon as he looked between Lucifer and Castiel. He noticed Castiel was looking as if he had just done ten rounds in a boxing ring worse then Lucifer's burning vessel and that was staying something. This dream felt very real to him, Sam decided to sit on the front row of the court room and watch seeing as he couldn't do anything to help right now. He squeezed his hand where he had cut it with a piece of glass to make sure if it was real as his brother Dean. He felt it twinge and he took a deep breath and reminded himself that this was all a bad dream…. Or was it!


	2. Oh Ye Of Little Faith

Castiel disliked being held to ransom and possibly blackmailed into submission. Their eyes met and he found himself wondering why he had bothered to come. Nothing good would come of this. Nothing at all. Fingers curled tightly around the arm of the chair as he continued to stare at the less than magnificent, fallen from heavenly grace, angel across the desk from him. Swallowing hard as he tried to think up a response. "Is that why you asked me here? To offer me, my power back?" Castiel always had a flaw of not being the wisest of angels. He cocked a brow, hoping he came across as more confident then he really felt. "Lets get to the real reason why you have bound me to this chair - what is it, that you really want Lucifer?"

Jimmy's vessel started to feel wet, unused to this sensation Castiel blinked furiously trying to contain the beads of water which for some unknown reason were insistent on running down his face. Castiel felt Jimmy scream in fear, he put that down to being faced with his brother before him. Jimmy should have known, if he believed in God, then surely he should have believed in The Devil somewhat. For a split second as Castiel tried to stop any kind of human reactions rising up and presenting itself in front of Lucifer, who would relish and revel in delight at seeing him squirm in masked fear as his brother watched Jimmys meat suit intently.

Laughing on the inside Lucifer watched Castiel attempt to mask how uncomfortable this situation had become. Although Gabriel may have taught Castiel everything he knew, just take a look at the one who taught Gabriel, that was Lucifer. He hadn't signed up for a five star entertaining vessel show, but maybe Lucifer would put that in line for the next US hit reality show - only in his personal pocket universe. He couldn't help having inflicted fear on the best meat suit he loved to hate. Jimmy and his not so perfect little life, praying every day, maybe now, he would realise just what it was he had prayed for and too. He noted how uncomfortable Castiel was growing, the sceptic in him questioned Lucifer. It was something however, any other angel would have flat out said yes or no to. They would have weighed their options without question, they themselves knew the answer and they would have acted accordingly. They felt like they had all the answers, even if they didn't.

Point is Castiel hadn't gave him a answer yet, which meant he was thinking about it far to much. Castiel was different, he learned to question, learned to stray from the pack and despite Lucifer's hatred for Castiel's chosen side it was something to admire. Someone who really has come into their own as an individual against the Heavenly body. Their father was gone, and the more Angels who realize this the greater chance of Lucifer actually drawing some of his brothers and sisters to his side,_finally_.

"I asked you here Castiel, Remember that I asked, and you came- Alone mind you, which was brave. But you're still here. Your chose, I didn't make you! Now you know you have no chance at beating me like this, so why come here if you didn't want to hear what I had to say? If I wanted to kill you, I would have but you're not much of a threat to me right now anyway. So why bother lifting a finger at an impotent little angel who can't get his power boner erect?" Lucifer stopped picking the blood from his nails and just folded his arms, his look upon Castiel turned into a blank glare as if he allowed that to sink in. It was true what he had said, he merely asked and had no influence in Castiel's decision to come here. He could have eluded to the fact that he should come, and do something to beckon him under some sort of thrall but that isn't what Lucifer wanted. He wanted soldiers, not slaves. Angels, not demons.

"Boner?" he asked, straight faced and tilting his head to the side "What is a boner? a power boner erect?" hoping his naivety on the subject would buy him some much needed time. "Is that the feeling you get when you're all powerful?" Thinking about the lucrative offer Lucifer had just handed him Castiel was immediately reminded of the last time he dealt with the then "king of hell". Crowley. That hadn't worked out exactly as he had hoped. Lucifer's words rang true but that really was the dangerous part. Lies were one thing but the truth? Sometimes it was a million times worse.

Lucifer ignoring the other angel's stupidity and continued. "Simple, in exchange for me giving you your powers back you need to switch allegiances. Swear your obedience to me. Hell, I'll even make sure Sam and Dean in the long run make it out okay after I'm done, I won't need my vessel when I over throw Heaven and assume control of Hell. That's really why you fight for humanity, because they do. You love them Castiel, and like our father it's a rather foolish love. But I'd let you keep your pets, even if they don't rightfully belong to you." Lucifer let out a small and sympathetic smile before reaching in a desk, pulling out a piece of paper that probably wasn't there before because it was very much like a contract. He held the paper and in his hand for a long while before standing up from his desk. Wandering over to Castiel placing both hands on the opposing desk, leaning forward and sliding the paper over to Castiel.

"Just sign the dotted line and it's done. You're an angel again. After the war you can continue being an angel in Heaven, dealing with the wrath upon the humans like our father should have years ago. You don't need humanity Castiel, humanity needs you to rectify it."

Lucifer hadn't forced him to come here. He had come of his own accord. For the most part. There was still a part of him that very much did not wish to be here. It left a bad feeling deep inside his chest, he partly blamed Jimmy for that and it took all sorts of self control not to storm right back out the door he had come through. Well if he wasn't bound to a chair. Switching sides? Pleading allegiance? Was Lucifer serious? Did The Devil truly believe that he would be swayed by power? He'd already betrayed his brothers and sisters in Heaven. They had cast him out simply because he did not share their beliefs in the future of humanity. Humans were the children of God; and they were to be protected.

"NO" Sam shouted from where he sat and automatically stood up. "No, Castiel, don't you dare"

Blue eyes stared intently at the other being in the room; watching his every move. Lucifer moved like a jungle cat; a predator. That would make him the prey, something that he did not like. He had to say no. There was no way that he could choose The Devil's side. He had already picked his side and he was more than willing to die for it. The Winchesters were more than simply his allies. They were his friends. They depended on him. _Of course, what real use was he with no angelic power._ The thought hit him hard and all he could do was stare a hole into the warped table; entire body tense. Would the Winchesters truly be safe if he agreed to such a deal? He doubted it. The very lifestyle they led would surely result in a very short lifespan. It was simply a statistical fact. Though with The Devil himself watching over them... No. Again he scolded himself for even considering it. Was he honestly considering it? No. Not really. His fingers balled into fists; blue eyes becoming ice cold. "Perhaps you should tell me the real reason why you asked me here. I cannot honestly believe that you expect me to be swayed so easily." Maybe defiance was the best approach. Maybe not. It was always hard to tell when dealing with The Devil.

"Do you think I am cheap?" Castiel asked Lucifer, he had heard that line used on one of the daytime 'soap operas' he had become addicted to watching. "Do you think you can treat me like one of your human targets you make deals with on a daily basis?" Feeling a surge of something flow through Jimmy's body and affect his breathing and heart rate, for an instant Castiel wished he had his powers back. Although not as powerful as Lucifer he would be able to get out of this tight and rather uncomfortable spot he now found himself in. Little did Lucifer know that he wasn't speaking to Castiel, he hadn't for a long time, probably since he walked through the door, but in fact it was the Leviathans playing along with Satan for a bit of fun. Castiel right now had no control of his body and obviously they could get up out of the chair Satan had bound them too but they didn't

So trying to stand up and failing and not knowing how he was going to get out of here, let alone if he would make it out alive. Castiel did what he knew to do, he prayed. Well, for Castiel it was more a conversation than prayer. Still able to communicate with other Angels through angel radio he yelled for "help". Who would honestly come to help a fellow fallen angel? All angels are attuned to angel fm 24/7/365 and will come running to the aid of another angel, if they hear a cry for help...well that's what used to happen. Unsure if any angel would even contemplate helping him, better still, any help at all when they found Lucifer was involved. Castiel still gave it a go, closing his eyes and concentrating, he suddenly felt a warm breath on his face as Lucifer is now nose to nose with him and breathing on his face.

Opening his eyes and staring straight into Lucifer's. Their eye's never left each others, burning straight line cut through the middle of their gaze. "Would you like a kiss?", Castiel had seen this type of behaviour on talk shows but had never come across it in real life. Leviathans were having so much fun, but very hungry. How they would like to wrap their jaws around Satan's head and rip it off. "Demon's seal deals with kisses don't they? Why did I think you were any different. Wait I haven't said yes! Is this how I'm supposed to get my power boner erect? I can't think of another reason you are taking up my personal - which I don't like by the way - other than you want a kiss. Does this mean you are attracted to men? and not women? I've seen this behaviour on Jerry Springer. Men who want to have intimate relations with another man, shall I kiss you now? Hold on! We are brothers, that's just wrong! God would never allow it, and Jerry Springer says it's wrong for two siblings to have any kind of intimate relations between each other, I suggest if you want to explore those desires that you are feeling you find someone else!" Keep talking, that's how humans dealt with situations, by talking.

"Oh ye of little faith Castiel, ye of little faith." Lucifer's hands gripped the desk tightly, cracking the wood before taking a step away from Castiel. A kiss? He felt dirty of such a thought, wandering over to the window. Peering outside he watched as the stars flicked along with the pale moonlight beating down, one could almost feel the eerie vibrancy that the moon gives off, even an archangel like Satan can feel the magic of something as simple and trivial as the moon. One day the moon may play a role, but in the grand scheme of things it was not of importance, as some angels would say.

"I asked you here, to offer you your powers returned in exchange for your obedience Castiel, if you are not loyal to Michael, being loyal to me would be beneficial. Even if you somehow stop this one way bullet train to the final show down, you will ultimately end if not by my hand , then by Michael's, so it's best you choose a side quickly. Or, I can give you a second option. Your powers, for one simple task. Then you can go on and be the Winchester's whipping boy and maybe when we do meet again Castiel I'll find it a little more enjoyable killing you, beating you over the face with your own grace." Lucifer wasn't compromising as one might think, it was his plan all along to make an outlandish deal and dumb it down to make it seem all the more appealing to take, make it seem like Lucifer was throwing him a bone.

Regaining some sort of control of the entire situation and watching as Lucifer he backed away from him, Castiel was praying for a miracle, he needed someone or something to now get him out of this situation. "Brother, about that offer, you can take that offer and shove it where the sun doesn't shine" Castiel burst out of laughing as if that was his way of maintaining control of the situations, which he was far from doing.


	3. Giving People Their Just Deserts

"Come on Castiel, reason why angels aren't at you in full force is mainly because they know the vessels need to be protected in some way. But you can't do that can you? Protect Sam and Dean? So, I'll give you a means to that, just need to scratch my back a little and you can go back to your humans, be their champion and what not. What do you say Cas? Up for a quest? My glowing exclamation mark demands it." Lucifer breathed cool air on the window, and drew an exclamation mark, it was situated high enough that it seemed like it's above his head. Moonlight appeared through it and it casted a brilliant white shape on the floor. The window slowly starts crackling over with ice as it becomes more prominent. Most people thought Hell burnt hot but it was quite the opposite.

There was one thing the devil wanted, one thing he could entrust Castiel to do. He wanted to find the boy Jessie, the anti-christ so to speak, the half-breed. Castiel and the Winchester's were the last people to see him alive, the boy needed an opportunity to unleash his true powers. His power would be beneficial to his cause, and if Castiel could find him, the boy than he would be more than happy to give Castiel his powers back. Better yet, give Castiel his power back in order to find the boy and if he fails in doing so strip it from him once more so he really feels the withdrawal, and entice him with another deal, one he hopefully can't refuse. However, knowing Castiel, he would run back to the Winchesters and tell them of his plan, Lucifer didn't want the brothers to know about this yet. But seeing as Sam was sat on the front row, Lucifer thought Sam should hear from the horse's mouth himself. Lucifer turned to Sam and gave him a slight wink. To Castiel, Lucifer was looking at nothing as if pondering.

"You can see me, you son of a bitch?" Sam asked, raising his voice ever so slightly and Lucifer pouted.

"Actually…" Lucifer gave Sam a thoughtful look. "I'm not a son of a bitch, you would be calling God a bitch then? Although, you on the other hand, are defiantly a son from two bitches…"

Sam got to his feet as if to defend himself and Lucifer waved his hand. "Uh Uh, Stay Sammy! I have a show for you tonight, stay tuned in! It's going to be exciting!" With that Lucifer turned his attention to Castiel.

Time seemed to slow; the night feeling almost endless. Moonlight slipped in through the windows; casting strange shadows on everything. Everything felt...wrong. Nothing was right and Castiel doubted things would get any better. There was a chill in the air, a cold that seemed to seep into his very being. He watched his brother with icy blues. Obedience? Was that truly what he wanted from him? Another angel in his pocket, so to speak. Another angel like Uriel perhaps? It made sense that Lucifer would want to recruit more of their brothers and sisters to his cause. He certainly had been blessed, or in this case, cursed with a silver tongue. Lies became truth and truths became lies. Tick, tock...tick, tock.

Which was the better option; Michael or Lucifer? Both of them wanted entirely different things, yet the end result was still the same. Death and destruction followed the pair. Humans would die and the world that their Father created would be torn apart. He was stuck between two rocks with no escape in sight. He had already experienced the wrath of an arch angel first hand. His vessel had been torn apart and splattered across the prophet's house. It was a punishment he had expected. After all he had betrayed his superiors and taken Dean to see his brother against their wishes. He exhaled sharply at the memory of that night, gaze dropping towards the floor. It had all been in vain; Sam had already killed Lilith, the final seal breaking and releasing...Lucifer.

The topic shifted slightly, taking a more specific tone. Of course he wanted something from him. He hadn't been called here for small talk. The Devil wanted him to find something. That fact alone sent up warning bells. He was an angel without his power and yet he was supposed to find something for Lucifer? Perhaps it was something he didn't want to know about, something he was better off staying far away from. Lucifer was being decidedly vague with the details. He wanted an answer before telling him much more. That was apparent. If he wanted to know what The Devil wanted, he had to pledge his allegiance. It could be important, something that could be used against Lucifer if he and the Winchesters were to get a hold of it. It could also be nothing at all.

Slowly he got to his feet, he found Lucifer had broken the hold he had him in which bounded him to the chair. His head slightly bowed, arms hanging loosely by his sides as he considered his options. So far, Lucifer hadn't been threatening. Not in a physical sense anyways. There had been idle threats, words laced with venom. But as of this moment in time, he had all his limbs intact. He wanted very much to keep it that way. He also wanted answers and was willing to risk bodily harm in order to get them. Castiel faced Lucifer, head lifted in a gesture of defiance. Heaven and Hell were against him now. He could use all the help he could get.

There was no trust here, no understanding. Two fallen angels. Perhaps in a different time they would have been on the same side, bonded together in some twisted way. After all, The devil was rather convincing in his argument. Better The Devil you knew, then The Devil you don't and all that. Maybe, there had been a time when Castiel would have bought that little speech of his. Their Father may have abandoned them but he had found faith in something else. His friends. The Winchesters. His alliance was with them and them alone. "I do not know what you wished to accomplish here." he said simply, giving a shrug of his shoulders. "If you truly knew anything about me, you wouldn't have wasted your time with this." His footsteps sounded loud inside the quiet room, his breath escaping as a mist as he turned his back to The Devil, intending on walking out. "I will not help you. " His heart was in his throat; his entire body tense. Would he be allowed to leave, or was there some more 'convincing' to be had?

Lucifer glared at Castiel's back, he thought him foolish and reckless. How dare he assume some sort of entitlement to his stance on the apocalypse. He is the charge of no one, he is fallen, powerless, even more meek than the humans without their maggot like survival skills. As Castiel made his way to the door, Lucifer brought it upon himself to make sure that same door slammed shut and locked, remaining that way until he got a better response out of him. It was perhaps The Devils own ego that demanded this, he wasn't fond of the word "no" and that's what he was getting so to speak. He was The Devil, Lucifer, there were very few who said no to him and those that did ended up meeting a worse fate.

When he was first released, and took Nick as his temporary vessel Lucifer thought it ironic to ruin the halls of some churches by throwing distrust among the ranks of God's human loyalists. He turned people against each other, introduced rape, adultery, thievery, and violence among the populace and those who "rejected him" and "accepted Jesus Christ" often found themselves being killed in rather ironic ways, he made a pasture for example eat an entire crate of those crackers until his stomach exploded. It was a sight to behold at Sunday mass when people flocking in to see the engorged father's stomach spread across the steeple. Before, when he was in his cage, he sent fake prophets to small towns, sending them false hope in the name of God. It was ironic to see people flock to his father in times of need, gaining faith when it most suited them. The very thought, makes him shake with utter disgusted. Father needed to stop being such a soft spot for these humans. The Devil, he could see right through the human souls.

Lucifer wasn't fond of losing, he had already lost so much for a being that has lived an eternity and will continue to live on. He lost the love of his father, of his brothers and sisters. All he wanted was to have that love once more, and he can show it to them after the humans become obsolete. He will do what others are afraid to do, for there is nary an angel among the garrisons who feels like they should bow down to humans. "All I want you to do Castiel," Lucifer rubbed his face, hand dragging down the scabby exterior as his own essence continues to burn through Nick like a wild fire. "Is find a boy for me, by the name of Jessie Turner, his mother is Julia Wright. He currently resides in Alliance,Nebraska. I shall grant you your powers for this task, fail me and I strip them away once more. Once you find this boy, return him to me, you keep your powers and can go on hating me and finding a way to kill me if you like. Doesn't get better than that, does it Cassy. You sure you want to walk out that door?" Lucifer wanted, no needed, Castiel to feel dependent on him, even if just for a little while. If Castiel found the boy, great, if not than Lucifer could strip Castiel away again out of sheer enjoyment. If he refused to accept his little quest, then perhaps he should get a little more physical before throwing him out on his powerless ass.

Choreographically dancing in time and in sync to the continuing Barry White song which seemed to be blasting out of the court house walls. There were no speaker grills placed around the room so it was a surprise to say the least. The troupe tried to entice both the fallen angels to join them. As the lights and surroundings of the court house appeared to morph and change into a seventies disco with a lit floor, rapturous applause from an invisible crowd encouraged Lucifer and Castiel who were both standing in the middle of the dancing men with looks of shock and disbelief on their faces. Both angels mesmerisingly encapsulated in the moment started to shuffle from side to side in time with Barry White and the dancers as if they couldn't stop themselves, some invisible force pulling them in, just like in the film Ally Mcbeal.

The scowl Castiel pulled made Gabriel laugh, he wondered why he had to always be so serious, why not live a little he thought to himself, embrace humanity and all it has to offer? Lucifer on the other hand, was looking bemused, Gabriel had seen that look before. He knew his brother well enough to know that catching him unawares was one of his weaknesses. Like an old memory of Gabriel and Lucifer, this one time, Lucifer sent Gabriel to the other side of Heaven, leaving Gabriel to run late for their father's supper. Gabriel had been annoyed at his older brother and took him unawares at supper. Of course Gabriel got a telling of from his father, but on the plus side that day his powers became stronger. It was a similar situation recently at the five star motel where Lucifer had supposedly killed Gabriel. Oh no, this was one surprise Gabriel was leaving to the last minute. It would take about a minute or two for the proud Lucifer to rear his ugly, scarred face again, in the meantime, Gabriel was going to sit back and enjoy the show.

The troupe continued to dance their perfectly executed routine around the two shuffling angels while Gabriel hid in the shadows watching. Any moment now Lucifer will 'click' and work out who is behind this charade, he thought as he laughed at his brothers oaf like dancing. A baby orangutan came to mind while Gabriel watched. Both Lucifer and Castiel had their eyes on the men before them and they were both a split second in timing behind the dancers movements. Clapping exceptionally loudly Gabriel decided now was the time to reveal the real reason he was here. He wanted to capture this moment forever the look on his brothers face would be priceless when he realised what daddy had done. Oh the fun Gabriel was going to have savouring every single word he prepared to speak, he wanted to ensure Lucifer was under no false illusion or impression as to daddy dearests plan.

Stepping out from the shadows still clapping. "Well well boys, I haven't seen that kind of fancy footwork since earths Jurassic era, the dinosaurs you had here on earth as pets brother dearest." Gabriel was still voice mimicking the deep voice at the beginning when the music started playing. However his true voice started to become more recognizable. Gabriel click his fingers and everything disappeared the music, dancers, leaving it back to the original look he found it in. "Time is up with Castiel, Lucifer, here have a fortune cookie" Gabriel tossed him the cookie the moment Castiel disappeared into thin air.

"Gabriel!?" Sam muttered to himself, his looked over at Lucifer and from the way he was looking, Sam took an educated guess that this wasn't part of the show Lucifer had intended. Running a hand through his hair, Sam still struggled to figure out if any of this was real or was it just a very realistic dream.

Gabriel knew about Castiel's capture when Castiel prayed for help. Gabriel had still been linked to Angel FM, he could here every prayer in his mind that people do. He knew his brother had been in trouble. Or was, meeting a better word to describe it? Castiel had freely and willingly went to see their older brother. That suggests to Gabriel that Castiel was thinking about dealing with Lucifer. Gabriel looked a little upset, it always got to him, seeing his brother bicker and he couldn't believe he was brought back to interfere with things to come.

"Message from God, Our Father, Two simple words and you can take it however you want to... those words are... I'm Back" Gabriel in his days gone by was the messenger of God, and he was brought back to play his role, which he intended to do, this time. /I'm Back/ could have been taken two ways - the first could have implicated that Gabriel was brought back after the incident with Lucifer. The second could mean that God, was actually back! Gabriel thought it was about time their father showed his ass! And if that was true and their father was back, that should scare the living daylights out of Satan. "I am a traditionalist, which would come to your delight. Yes I am still on 'their' side, meaning the humans, the people that make planet Earth just that little more beautiful. And FYI Lucy, this is me... standing up to you" Gabriel's eyes ran once more over Lucifer's. He never interfered in the apocalypse before, because Dean Winchester was right. He was a coward and afraid to stick up to his family. Not any more. In that moment, Gabriel had disappeared, leaving Lucifer alone to ponder on present events and possible future outcomes

Lucifer was feeling very venerable to say the least; he had admitted what he wanted to Castiel in front of Sam to be foolishly tricked by someone he thought to be dead. He'd had to go away and rethink his strategy which would obviously involve torturing some souls in his cage, because that's where he was right? "You've seen enough Sam…" Lucifer's stare cut coldly through Sam as he clicked his fingers and Sam woke with a jerk.


	4. More Then Your Jobs Worth

Apparently an archangel-turned-Pagan-Trickster-god just couldn't get a job done in peace any more. Said being, had been minding his own business out on the docks in a little Maine town, the cold air turning his breath to smoke as he watched a Great White Shark terrorize a fisherman who had a habit of taking more then his fair share of illegal game. He was perched atop one of the large metal structures-probably a crane or something for loading or unloading the cargo ships. The angel hadn't bothered to actually check what he was perched on-grinning down as the man screamed and scrabbled to the middle of his boat as the Great White yet again bumped the side. His little fishy was big, Bruce from Jaws big, bigger then any fish who was swimming around in the tiny little Main inlet had any business being. His friend would never believe a word of his story in the morning.

But something had Gabriel looking up, tearing his eyes away from the amusing scene in front of him to look at the inky black sky. It wasn't the sky he was looking at of course, it was the four spots of Grace, brilliant among the dullness of human souls around him, heading straight for him that he was turning his attention to. And these days that many angels weren't coming to just say 'hey'. The next moment Gabriel was standing in a more abandoned section of a dock several towns over, leaving his fishy to terrorize the man for a few more hours before inexplicably sinking back into the deep. Gabriel's initial intention had been to give his brethren the slip but as three suited men and one woman appeared around him it looked like that plan had royally failed.

"Hey guys! What's shakin'?" Gabriel asked the surrounding angels, instantly knowing them from the feel of their Grace despite their unfamiliar (and probably temporary) vessels.

"We have been sent to collect you, Brother." one of them, Abrasiel he recalled her full name being, got right down to business-her blade suddenly in her hand.

"...'Collect me'?...You guys are kidding, right?" he asked, looking around into the stereotypical stony faces of his brothers and sister," I forgot, not the kidding type. Abby, come on, you can't seriously think -"

"And yet we do, Brother, we have received Revelation that this is our task." Orphiel said from his left, "Come with us peaceably and we can keep this simple."

Although it felt good to vent some irritation towards the brothers, Castiel knew it was unfair; after all, they needed to be hidden from Angel's, and they thought he was dead. So, it wasn't like they were intentionally making things difficult, though instead of finding either boys, Castiel seemed to be finding others who seemed to need help. Not that Castiel was annoyed by the distractions, each child of God deserved his attention, it just felt that there were more important things at hand, what with the ending of the world, then the seemingly smaller things. Yet Dean's words kept echoing, that the whole point of this suffering world were the people in it, their hope, their families, their lives, their freedom, it all made life worth living. What happened when they had none of these things? Or suffered so greatly that life just didn't seem worth living? Walking amongst humans, sensing their emotions, their thoughts, it tended at times to be very depressing.

Perhaps Castiel was spending too much time on Earth already, granted it hadn't really been long at all, but there was a distinct hole in his heart, he missed home and he even missed the siblings he didn't get along with so well. Perhaps that is what brought Gabriel to mind, Gabriel, Anna, all the others that, yet of all of them, Gabriel seemed the most likely to at least listen. After what he had done to Anna… Castiel could barely bring himself to think of the matter, his betrayal was cowardice and shameful and he should have been stronger. Finding Gabriel hadn't been the easiest task after he just rescued him from Lucifer, but it wasn't impossible either, the archangel didn't seem desperately deep undercover as previously. Or maybe Castiel had just gotten that good at tracking… or maybe not, it seemed his older brother had guests and the Angel hung back to take in the situation. Yet Castiel didn't have to do much, Gabriel came to his savoury. He had been dumped by some road side, he waited but Gabriel hadn't followed so he decided to do a little digging around.

"Revelation from who? God? Please, my old man is a dustman, he wears a dustman's hat, he wears cor-blimy trousers and he lives in a council flat." Gabriel broke into the song. "Dad, did give a shit one time, he probably still does, he just doesn't show it anymore, so why pretend now?" Gabriel said, pretty sure God wasn't the one who suddenly gave a crap about him, even with the current situation in Heaven.

"Brother, it is not our place to question the Will of-" Abrasiel began, that notion of mindless obedience still drilled into her head.

"The Will of the Lord, yeah, I know. I hate to tell you this but this isn't Dad's will, you guys are following, it hasn't been for a long time." Gabriel said, turning as he heard the sound of another angel blade being slid from clothing behind him.

"Enough, Brother, your words are close to blasphemy. Come with us now before we must force you." That was Penatiel behind him, the vessel he was possessing large enough to overwhelm Gabriel's smaller frame even without the addition of Grace.

"Sorry, but that's just not gonna happen little Bro." he saw it now, that these four were going to try and drag him back to Heaven either way. Divine Revelation his ass, this was probably Raphael's handiwork (Mikey and Lucy were to busy fighting each other in the pit to care about him) or that asshat Zachariah. His own angel blade dropped down from his sleeve as he saw determination and self righteousness fall on the faces of the other angels. So this really was gonna go down then.

Angel talk for 'we will do what we are told at any cost', Castiel wondered if they had 'Revelation' over how to deal with their renegade brother… if they knew Castiel was alive again, anyway. What their current task was, however, had Castiel curiously watching. Bobby had asked for help on figuring out about these horsemen, granted Castiel knew a lot about them; their weaknesses however, not so much. With Gabriel's age and knowledge, Castiel had hoped that the self-proclaimed Trickster may have been willing to shed some sort of light on the matter. Instead, he seemed to be entertaining visitors. But Castiel knew what The Devil wanted. The boy, the antichrist, Jessie Turner. That was Castiel's biggest weapon against Satan tight now.

Maybe Castiel had not been the only one to think Gabriel could be of help, if he had just missed his chance of gaining information, Castiel was going to be rather annoyed. Since when did Gabriel even indulge Heaven's requests? Last Castiel knew the guy was going out of his way to keep his distance from everyone picking sides, especially since their previous meeting. It wasn't that Castiel didn't understand the drive Gabriel felt to have things return back to how things were in the beginning, but Lucifer had gone too far, his anger festered too deep. There was never going to be that happy family scene with them all standing tall, together, united under their father's eternal love. Even Castiel still held out the hope that his siblings would forgive him for siding with the humans over Heaven's forces.

The words caused any thoughts of leaving before discovery to vanish, the Angel's surrounding Gabriel were far from friendly looking, they were intent on carrying out their business. But Gabriel, he didn't seem keen on making it easy for them; maybe things hadn't changed as much during Castiel's absence as it felt at times. It was hard to suppress the roll of Castiel's eyes, he was fed up with it all, fed up with how they never listened, never seemed to just think about how ridiculously out of character many of these orders seemed that supposedly came from their father.

And for once in a long time, something the two Angel's agreed on, Castiel moved quietly closer, keeping out of sight of those closing in on the archangel. Force. Force. Tension could be seen visibly in Castiel's jaw, he'd let Anna get taken, and after he'd been taken, after all he had endured during that, he still caved in and let Anna be taken! Well, if they wanted to drag off another Angel, then that would just have to be the trigger that Castiel said he'd need in order to risk being discovered alive.

At seemingly some unforeseen signal Orphiel rushed him from the front in the same moment Penatiel came at him from the back, seemingly intent on just snatching him up by surprise and making a run for the pearly gates before Gabriel could get his bearings. But they seemed to forget he was an archangel, a fight was what he was created for, so before either of the angels could grab a good hold Gabriel had vanished and his brothers ran into each other.

He had been planning on landing on the other side of the globe but only got so far as the end of the dock-an Enochian binding sigil smeared on the ground had him cursing. It even had his name on it, how sweet of them. But Abrasiel's blade cutting the air inches from his chest caught his attention. She had always been a quick one. But with his attention turned to block the angel in front of him Gabriel didn't see Penatiel coming up behind him again until the angels forearm was around his throat.

"Listen, I know where Castiel is, I just saved him from Lucifer give me a break already! I know you used to follow Raphael and Castiel is the next big follower but I hate to rub it in guys, I told you so!"

Though still, Gabriel was powerful, instead of charging in recklessly, Castiel stayed back. At first there had been relief that Gabriel decided to flee instead of stand his ground, relief because at least it meant Castiel had a chance to find him on his own. He had so many questions after the night Gabriel had saved him from Lucifer. Though concerned since if Heaven decided to hunt the archangel, Gabriel would go back into deep hiding. Apparently, the Angels had thought of that too, and prepared for the risk of Gabriel just leaving without a fight. The older Angel hadn't gotten far, Castiel could sense them right outside, and with a deep breath, and blade ready in hand, the wayward Angel found himself behind a rather large bulk of a figure outside.

Driving the Angel Blade through his brother, Castiel felt the same pang of guilt as always, sure it had to be done, in order to stop the end of the world and all that, however it didn't mean Castiel was enjoying doing it, the beasts inside of him were having a ball however. "The problem with blind faith, is that you can't see the truth when it is masked by deception." The deep tones of Castiel's voice could be heard as the body fell with a brief brilliance of white light. The Angel he stabbed lay limp on the ground, lifeless with a wingspan burned out across the area beside him. A brief look was offered to Gabriel, before turning his attention to the others. "Here's a question, if what I did was so against the will of our father – it has been made clear by many… why did he then bring me back?" A steely gaze focused on Abrasiel, watching intently the female, while still being ready to defend himself. Waiting to see if perhaps the shock of his return might offer them an opportunity to just leave; he'd rather not have to fight them to the death, not unless they forced his hand. "Here's something to think about…" he added "I know what Lucifer wants, kill Gabriel and I now you might end the only chance to save yourselves."


	5. All Ends Well With A Fight

Just as sudden as it had come the pressure around Gabriel's throat released as the archangel felt the telltale burst of burning Grace at his back. He turned and, sure enough, Penatiel lay dead on the ground, his wings burnt deep into the concrete behind him. Though the vessel would fade away or be discovered by humans those markings of wings would always be burned into that slab of grey concrete, the last remnants of Penatiel's Grace bursting out through his wings. But glancing from his dead brother's form Gabriel saw something he would have never expected—Castiel, come to save the day it seemed, after Gabriel had saved his butt first – what was this, a little pay back? Gabriel caught Castiel's look to him before his little brother turned to continue speaking to the other angels but Gabriel wasn't focused on them. He was still stuck on the fact an angel lay dead behind him at the hands of one of his kin.

Gabriel hadn't been in Heaven during the core part of the war—as soon as the fighting really kicked into high gear he'd shagged ass out of Heaven so fast he was sure no one had noticed at first. He had never fought in the trenches like Anna and Balthazar and Castiel, never led a garrison into battle like he was sure Michael and Raphael had. If he really thought back he supposed he had left right after Lucifer fell and supposed that at least some of his kin had to have seen that as the second oldest archangel rushing to follow his favourite older brother in the fall to damnation but that wasn't the case—Gabriel just didn't want to watch his family tear each other apart. And, as a result, he'd gotten what he wished for back then and was spared the sight of the violence and bloodshed of the fighting in Heaven. So seeing actual angel-on-angel violence was slightly shocking.

Forcing his eyes forward and his mind on the business at hand Gabriel saw his shock mirrored on the faces of his siblings, though possibly it was more directed towards Castiel then their dead sibling. Last Gabriel had heard Raphael had smote the ever loving crap out of Castiel, turned the angel's body into a nice paint for some poor prophet's walls. Gabriel could ask the same question about him, though he knew his role as Messenger of God and he was intended to keep it this time. But it seemed that Dad—or somebody else, Gabriel really didn't know—liked Castiel and decided to un-paintify him. And what for, so he could meet up with Lucifer, possibly make deal with him to get his powers back and Gabriel had to be brought back to save his ass. It seemed that his remaining three brothers and sister were having a hard time wrapping their heads around this face.

"Castiel," Orphiel began, the entire angels being wreaking of tension and internal conflict at the other angel's sudden appearance, completely bypassing the question he was visibly shaken by but didn't dare think of an answer too, "…Our business is with Gabriel. Leave now and we will consider Penatiel's death an…unfortunate accident."

Although it wasn't really a 'greeting' per-say, Castiel still nodded his head ever so slightly as if returning the recognition. Eyes drifted down to the empty form that lay by their feet, Orphiel's ability to forgive Castiel for such an act seemed … heartless. Though granted that was not what the other Angel had said, but to ignore it was just as bad, Castiel would have preferred if they had ran, or at least if they had to have stayed, made the first attack. A brief glance across Gabriel's face as Castiel looked up from the murdered Angel told the rebel all he needed to know, from that his refocus on the remaining three had been only fuelled with further determination to hold his ground.

So it seemed that bringing him in was more even took precedent over re-killing Castiel in Heaven's eyes—if they even knew he'd been brought back that is. Gabriel would be flattered if his brethren succeeding didn't mean that he'd be brainwashed, probably tortured along the way to instil obedience, and sent back out or into the battlefield squeaky clean of all his pesky free will and whatever scraps of humanity he'd gained on Earth. The mere idea of that being in store for him back home sent shivers down Gabriel's spine.

"But know that if you choose to stand in our way Castiel that we will not hesitate to kill you." Abrasiel this time, her angel blade still in her hand and her face the picture of perfect angelic righteousness, "We have received Revelation to return Gabriel to Heaven—how can you stand in the way of this when you yourself have been shown the way of our Father?" So they'd managed to snatch up Castiel as well, huh? Gabriel had to give the other angel props for seemingly breaking whatever brainwashing they'd done on him, major props. Lessons from Heaven of that kind usually stuck like glue.

A brow rose slightly, perhaps invisible to the human eye the reaction so vague, yet an Angel wouldn't miss the feeling behind the faint expression. Sure they could kill him, but what if God had brought Castiel back, what then? Would they really dare anger their father by killing him again, and if they did, would God bring Castiel back again or … What was the point of all this? A deadpan expression remained steely fixed on Castiel, though his eyes alone were all that needed to be seen by those who knew him to know that the mention of his previous 'rehabilitation' didn't help anyone's chances of levitating his determination.

"And no one up there wants to know what Gabriel has to say about this?" the archangel asked, already knowing the answer. Castiel didn't look at his older sibling, continuing to be ever vigilant in his study of the others body language just in case they tried to take either him, or Gabriel, by surprise.

"…We were told that you would resist us Brother. But this is for your own good, even if your judgment has been clouded to that fact." Abrasiel said, a frown so deep on her face it might just stick there if she wasn't careful.

Fingers tightened on the Angel Blade as Castiel listened, waiting, hoping the three would back down – they were no match for Gabriel, surely, why was the archangel letting them get away with this? If Dean were here, he'd be screaming for some smiting to be going on about now… or tossing some holy oil their way. Really, Castiel really ought to be more prepared now. Considering his actions and the anger the rebel would have directed his way, it just felt like being over prepared would just give the impression he was out to kill his brethren, when that really wasn't the case.

"So you were told to pop down here and take an archangel back home against his will?" Was Heaven really stupid enough to send in the grunts to do a general's dirty work? The lack of an answer from his younger brethren was answer enough. Yes, Heaven really was that stupid. Or that callous. Or maybe whoever up there was orchestrating this little mission knew Gabriel's soft spot for his family. But whatever the reason the three remaining angels sent to collect him were choosing to ignore it.

It appeared Castiel had not been alone in his thoughts Gabriel could deal with these three, Gabriel himself seemed to be aware of the dangerous grounds these three walked. Why then had Gabriel allowed things to get so perilously close to unpleasant for himself? One didn't have to dig too deep for the answer; after all, it had been the reason the archangel had left in the first place, hadn't it? He couldn't stand the idea of the family falling apart, of Lucifer turning angel against angel, just because he disagreed with their father, and Michael felt betrayed and outraged by the things his brother had said. Castiel had been so young back then, but Gabriel, Michael, Lucifer all of them, all of his older brothers. They all had grown so close by then, long before their younger siblings had been created. Michael, the loyal son to the end, Lucifer the Angel who declared he had loved God too much and refused to love any other more. Then all the others, with their equally potent personalities, it was little wonder that Castiel had found it easier to bond with Gabriel; the one who just wanted everyone to get along, and open and honest, determined to keep the peace and lighten the mood.

Once Castiel had told the brethren that he knew what Lucifer wanted they backed off almost instantly. They gave the archangel a look as if to say 'your on Lucy's side' without even waiting for explanation. Oh great, Gabriel thought. Was that it? Castiel frowned, visibly irritated as the thought crossed his mind, were these siblings taking advantage of Gabriel's hesitance on getting involved? Were they actually going to force him back to Heaven hoping that he'd not cave in and harm them? The thought angered Castiel, who felt as if these siblings were betraying the love Gabriel had towards them, to take advantage of their older brother and hurt him. There had been a time Gabriel had taken Castiel's hand, a time they had watched humanity crawl to the shores of a new world. Now it was Castiel's turn, regardless of the disappointed felt during their last encounter, regardless of the hurt over his older siblings' actions and treatment of him, Castiel wouldn't allow them to destroy what made their elder brother so special.

"You take your Revelation-" Castiel said stepping forward, doing his best Dean impersonation; "-and shove it." He didn't need to kill them all, but a few tactical strikes might get them to back off. A flicker of movement and Castiel's form darted about the hostile Angels, he'd given them their chance, and they ignored it, they threatened Gabriel, and then they reminded Castiel of what Heaven had put him through last time Castiel had dared step out of line.

Yes, Castiel was a foot soldier, and sure, he was hardly the strongest Angel out there, but he was no low level push over either, he could hold his own in a fight, and he'd remind them of that. A slash across the back of one of them came from nowhere, a misleading attack that appeared to have originally been targeted for Orphiel, only to land on the real target at the last moment. Fighters read each other's body languages; obvious movements would get you killed. The pained yelling cries of the Angel as he fell in agony to the hard ground were ignored, Castiel's only notice enough to make sure to keep his distance in case the fallen Angel decided to reach for him despite the anguish of the injury. Two remained standing; they were the soldier's focus.

Gabriel caught sight of the tense set of Castiel's shoulder as some sort of irritation settled down on the other angel. He didn't have a clue as to what could suddenly be pissing his normally level headed and stoic little brother off so much, he was to busy watching his three remaining younger siblings for any signs of movement. They must have been chosen especially for this, either because of their extreme willingness to obey or their complete disregard for common sense he didn't know. But did they really think the four—and now three—of them would have been able to drag the former right hand of God back home and not suffer some sort of injury? Or maybe they just didn't care, maybe they were willing to die in the attempt. It angered Gabriel slightly, that whoever it was of the higher ups that was behind this were willing to just throw away these angels lives all for the sake of bringing him home.

He quirked a brow at Castiel's instructions to their aggressors on what to do with their offer, a vagabond's grin crossing his features at the angels completely uncharacteristic words- it seemed Dean Winchester was rubbing off on Castiel a bit, at least he knew how to properly bad mouth someone without it coming out awkward and formal. Good for him. It didn't raise Gabriel's opinion of the true vessel of Michael of course but it didn't lower it any either.

A duck, shift to the side, block, grab and twist, it was all fluid, the movements like memorized dance manoeuvres; each Angel attempting to read the other and figure out where the next attack might come from. Abrasiel to the left, Orphiel to the right, Castiel's sister grabbing his arm as he went to strike Orphiel across the face, it was hard working one handed, yet choices had to be made. Drop the weapon in his right to aid shrugging off Abrasiel, leaving himself open to Orphiel. Or keep the blade raised in defence of his brother's attack, leaving himself open to Abrasiel, it all happened so fast and yet the decision had been settled on within the moment. Abrasiel's blade swung at Castiel's side, a far less damaging move then Orphiel's which had been coming right at him, deflected with great effort by Castiel's own blade and then with a flick of his wrist as the other lost the balance of his stance.

A heart beat later, Castiel's blade cut across the Angel's throat, pulled right back as the Angel of Thursday twisted his form just enough to unsteady Abrasiel's footing, despite her firm hold, and slammed it hard at her chest. The scream burned his ears, she had made the wrong choice in whether to drop her guard and try to wrangle her way out of his own hold of her hand, or risk deflecting his oncoming attack. It was never a sure decision, anything could happen, and as always, Castiel watched the light of her eyes burst out, a look of sorrow in his own as her life faded. Whoever was making the false orders from God was pitting sibling against sibling, forcing them to choose between freedom or re-education; isolation or blind faith… They were the real enemies, they were the ones Castiel wouldn't feel guilt over destroying.

In the next moment however Castiel was a blur of motion and flashes of bright holy metal as he took down one brother with a swift killing blow. Gabriel turned his back from the fight, taking this opportunity to deal with that pesky little binding sigil that had stopped his initial escape. Castiel's attack seemed to have the desired effect of keeping the enemy distracted, for Gabriel reached the sigil with no problem at all. He listened to the sounds of the fight behind him, cautious of any of them managing to squirm out of Castiel's focus and try and make a run for Gabriel or any cries of pain from Castiel. The archangel didn't like the idea of hurting his younger siblings at all, and killing them less so, but he wasn't about to sit on his ass while his little brother got overwhelmed by the winged douchebags that had come to collect him. But, with a slight feeling of pride for little Cassie, it seemed Castiel could more than handle himself in a fight as Gabriel heard nothing of the sort as he bent to examine the Enochian binding sigil.

The remaining Angel, Castiel stared at him, withering on the ground, kill him or let him live, the soldier in him felt as if no survivors would be the safest option, yet he didn't have the heart to end yet another life. The trench coat swirled about Castiel as the rebel turned sharply towards Gabriel, the shallow cut of the blade that sliced into his side ignored despite the pain that emanated from it. "This was not the reunion I intended, though admittedly it did involve about the same level of violence." Castiel stated flatly, though this leaned towards an air of humour, it also had some truth to it. Further more, it was clear Castiel was rather focused on getting both him and Gabriel out of there. How quickly they would be would depend on if Gabriel took the chance of Castiel distracting the attackers to sort out the barrier they had put up.

It was a doozy of a spell and specifically targeted towards him—there sat his name carefully spelled out in Enochian along the top of the sigil. But it had been sloppily done and all it took was a slight burst of his own Grace to have the blood it was drawn in burning up. Gabriel didn't immediately make a run for it though; instead he stood and turned back around towards the skirmish going on. Abrasiel lay dead on the ground along with her two brothers, Oprhiel lay gravely wounded and clutching at his side as the shape of his wings slowly began to burn themselves into the ground beneath him. He'd better run on home and get patched up before the wound killed him—and it seemed the thought was crossing Orphiel's mind as well as suddenly the angel and his forming wing burns were gone along with the bodies of his dead siblings.

Well so much for laying low and avoiding Heaven's notice anymore—Gabriel would bet anything that Orphiel would tattle on the archangels whereabouts whether he survived his injuries or not. And now that Heaven had an idea of where he was that left very few places on Earth to hide anymore. He couldn't ditch his vessel, it was his true vessel after all and the process of finding one even close to strong enough to contain him would take too much time. And then that left him having to change vessels ever few years when one wore out, a process that would leave him exhausted before long. He could go and bury his head in the sand among the Pagans, use the ties he had formed as Loki and cook up some lie that Heaven was suddenly after the Pagan god for some reason. Kali would probably shelter him, she had loved him a few millennia ago and they had broken up under friendly enough terms. But of course there was the problem of Gabriel having no idea where Kali had gone to and it wasn't as if the Goddess had a cell phone.

He didn't blame Castiel for letting the last one go though—Gabriel hadn't been able to bring himself to lay a finger on any of his siblings whereas Castiel had just killed three of them within the space of five minutes: the archangel would be the ultimate asshole if he scolded him for not 'finishing the job'. But he did give the rebel angel an inquisitive look as he turned sharply towards him—was it his turn for a beating now? Gabriel remembered his actions towards his younger brother the last time they met—that duct tape had probably been a bitch to get off and those bruises no doubt took some time healing up, coming from Lucifer. If he were Castiel he would have punched himself square in the jaw by now for it. But in the Tricksters mind Castiel had gotten in the way of Gabriel's artfully trying to drive home a point with the Winchesters—he couldn't just let him fly around TV land unchecked and ruin everything.

"Dream on little bro, like you could actually land a hit on me." Gabriel said with a grin, slinging a genial arm around his little brothers neck as the angel approached, mindful of his wounds, "In any case we better get outta before they send in the reinforcements." He didn't sense any of those mentioned reinforcements at the moment but Gabriel had no doubt that—whatever that had actually been—wouldn't be the end of it. It was all very troubling to the archangel—more than two thousand years of Heaven letting him be and all of a sudden they wanted to bring him in for re-education? It just didn't seem right. They already had two archangels on their side; were they really so greedy they felt they needed to bring the third back into the fold? Or was Heaven really that nervous of Lucifer and his demons they felt they needed him?

One moment Gabriel was standing on the former battlefield and the next had him landing clear across the state in a snow covered field out in the middle of nowhere, the white specs still gently falling from the sky and sticking, unmalting, onto Gabriel's clothes and hair as they landed. He didn't go too far, unsure of the distance his injured brother would be able to cover. Besides, whoever else they sent after him would probably expect him around the vicinity of Africa by now, so sticking close to the scene of the fight was a better idea. He turned to face Castiel, there was one thing Castiel hadn't shared with the class – or rather him. "So little bro, tell me something, what is there, that Lucy could possibly want?" Dumbass question, Gabriel could think of a few things but Castiel seemed to know more then he did so, Gabriel asked a little sarcastically but serious, half wondering why Castiel hadn't thought to mention any of this before. It had been a few months since, Gabriel had actually saved Castiel's sorryful ass from Lucifer. So Castiel had been around that long knowing what Lucifer truly wanted.


	6. What's A Little Small Talk Between Bros?

Although Castiel's expression remained rather straight-faced; the Angel's eyes however contained a pool of emotions. Eyeing Gabriel initially before the others arm flopped over Castiel's shoulders, the younger Angel was half tempted to see if the archangel's words were true or not. Though it would be far from smart, he'd been smacked from oblivion by one Archangel, and while Castiel had felt more capable, stronger even, in that previous fight then in the past… It might be pushing his luck to try settling scores with Gabriel at this point. Castiel's eyes focused on the remnants of the sigil, which had entrapped Gabriel and stopped him from leaving without a fight. There was so much going on right now, still waiting on Dean and Sam to call Bobby, still figuring out what was going on… now this?

The slightest tilt down of Castiel's head was all the nod the Angel bothered with in agreement to Gabriel's suggestion about getting hell out of dodge. The sudden change of scenery offered no reaction from Castiel, who cared more about making sure they weren't followed then taking in the sights. The slash in the renegade Angel's side was deep enough to be a bother, but not so bad that he felt particularly handicapped by it. Putting on a brave face around Gabriel was almost a stubborn determination anyway. "So..?" The younger sibling eyed Gabriel questioningly, clearly wanting to ask the obvious questions, even if just to get a clearer picture on what was going on. However they had more pressing matters to discuss other then the previous attack, like the threats before of just dragging the archangel back, not to mention the reason Castiel initially went to find Gabriel and Lucifer.

"It's been a while.." Not that Castiel excelled at small talk, yet he'd seen Dean and Sam talk their way in and out of so many situations that it seemed worth a try. His eyes dropped to the floor when Gabriel questioned him about what Lucifer wanted. Of course, the twist and turns of this conversation was indeed going to change the subject onto that particular topic. Castiel almost hesitated but he knew he could trust Gabriel. Out of the four Archangels, Gabriel was the one he most trusted. Should he confined in him, or shouldn't he? At that moment he thought to his father about what he should do, and receiving nothing back, Castiel hardened his features. "Lucifer wants the boy, Jesse Turner, half human, half demon." Castiel paused "Your guess is as good as mine what Lucifer wants him for… it's wrote down by prophets that Jesse is capable of bringing down The Host of Heaven with just one word. Jesse could completely destroy Heaven's angelic society" Castiel told Gabriel, then paused his eyes saddened. "Before they do it themselves… and here's a question for you brother… What do you know about the Apocalypse? Specifically the horsemen and how to stop them?"

Ok, so he was really, really bad at small talk, but the sooner they could discuss the facts the better, considering Castiel just came back in the middle of all this he'd really like to know what was going on. Maybe then he'd have a better grasp on the next steps to take. Not that the thought of Gabriel being dragged up to Heaven was being neglected, in fact, Castiel wanted to figure that out as well. It just seemed pretty obvious someone up there didn't want Angels getting in the way of the plans. Plus they'd want any weapon they could find to ensure things went according to plan and the Winchester's took their place in history as the chosen vessels. If Heaven was so determined to take these drastic measures, and Hell was all on board with the recruitment drive, Castiel really was starting to see some wisdom in finding the Winchester's their own conscriptions. Maybe Gabriel would reconsider his hide and seek method, considering Heaven's minions made it clear they weren't going to stop till Gabriel was retrieved, maybe the Winchester's might have another Angel on their side. Castiel just hoped that any discussions on the matter went better then last time.

The older archangel saw Castiel consider the option of hitting him, patting the younger angel on the shoulder when Gabriel saw the idea drop from his eyes. Probably the best option-Gabriel wouldn't exactly just up and blast him clear across reality like Raphael had but he'd at least hit back. And Gabriel's punches tended to hurt. He found himself grinning at Castiel' s shitty attempt at small talk before abandoning the notion and skipping to the point. It seemed Castiel was developing a fair bit of 'people skills' but he either found them too troublesome or too confusing to keep up. Gabriel could pass for a human no problem, having spent more then his fair share of time walking among them and 'getting to know the locals'. The very few angels he had come across who hadn't fled or tried to kill him on sight had been slightly mystified as Gabriel interacted with humans with such ease and dexterity that the humans he was interacting with never suspected anything-it was one of the many traits he'd cultivated that brought the archangel a feeling of pride.

Gabriel was actually stuck for words, when Castiel informed him that Lucifer wanted Jesse Turner. Gabriel had heard very little of the boy but knew from what was written down that the boy possessed some powerful talents. That's the thing, what was written down in the prophets corner of Heaven couldn't be rewritten or changed. That's why the Winchesters caused such a fuss by saying no to their fate. Fate was a bitch – literally. No turning back from what was written and somewhere on a plague in the prophets department, there was a parchment that said Jesse Turner had a huge role to play, weather anyone liked it or not. Gabriel and his role to play as messenger of God would probably be the one to deliver a massage when the time was right. He guessed that's why his father brought him back, so he could play his rightful roles in this screwed up world. "What you have to remember, about the boy, is, as the antichrist or cambion, he is not the son of Lucifer. As you said Castiel, he is simply the spawn of a human and a demon. Remember, he is still half human, it's a race between which side gets to him first. The good and righteous side, or the evil and corrupt side, but right now, you can't tell which side from which"

The wait seemed infuriatingly long, even if it were but moments as Castiel watched the thoughts dance across Gabriel's features. What was his older brother considering? Most likely deciding on whether to be honest and give a straight answer or go for cryptic, if not bald faced lie. Castiel was a horrific liar, some would consider that a good a thing, however if he hadn't had telepathy to rely on in order to even somewhat sense when people lied to him; the angel would be a pretty easy target. Unfortunately Castiel lacked that ability when it came to his brethren, usually it was never an issue, they were plain and to the point. Some however, some had spent too much time around humans and picked up certain traits, lying happened to be one of them. Castiel cocked his head to the side ever so slightly when Gabriel describe Jesse Turner. For a moment he paused and knew that Gabriel was right, he wasn't Lucifer's son and he was half human, that meant, the boy could be worked on and hopefully turn out for the better side, if they find and get to him in time.

…And Castiel had let out a little secret… weather by accident or not… So the Winchesters were trying to take on the Horsemen then, aye? Not exactly the smartest of options but then again when had those brothers ever erred on the side of anything even close to caution or safety? But Gabriel had to assume the brothers had no clue what they were up against walking into a fight with a Horsemen-those four were tricky bastards, turning a humans own vises against them until it out and out killed them. He'd once seen a man beat his beloved wife to death with a chair leg under Wars influences. Death was the only Horsemen the archangel could stand, the other three just left bad tastes in his mouth.

"Well as far as our little Sunday dinner party here by goes, I know they're probably not going to wait for me before they start." Gabriel said, referring to his own supposed role as the one to signal the start of the Last Day with his Horn. "And as for the Horsemen those four are tricky sons of bitches. I know they can't be killed and you'd sooner die of spontaneous stomach cancer or drink yourself to death then ever lay a hand on one of 'em. Death is the only civil one, the other ones you're better off skipping the small talk. But I've got no idea how you'd go about stopping 'em."

This was, of course, a lie. Gabriel knew about the Horsemen and their rings. They currently trap Lucifer in his cage right now; he wasn't going to go messing around in those affairs either. How he had ended up as the keeper of that particular secret he had no idea but there was no way in Hell he was going to just go and share that information with Castiel. He could picture it now: he'd answer all of Castiel's questions, Castiel would go back to the Winchesters and relay the information and the brothers would send the angel to get the rings himself like a good little attack dog. And Castiel would do it too, not having the heart or good sense or Dad knew else what to say no to Dean Winchester. No way Gabriel was letting that happen.

Considering the urgency both sides seemed to be showing in getting things moving, and Gabriel's resistance to returning home before… maybe not. Yet to be honest, the younger brother would have thought Gabriel would have been all too keen to kick things off considering their previous encounter. That will be back to square one again, Lucifer would have to be freed, Sam and Dean would have to say yes, put things in there natural order again.

So the Trickster had no tricks should he ever come face to face with a horseman? Castiel's eyes squinted just slightly enough to narrow his gaze yet not so much that it was clear whether the look had been a grimace from the wound or suspicion over Gabriel's denial of knowing anything. It wouldn't take a genius however to guess which one if you actually knew the archangel in question. Nevertheless, Castiel looked away, standing motionless as his eyes seemed pinned on the falling snow. There were two options, argue the point across regarding Gabriel helping out, or go find some someone else who might have an idea. Not that Castiel knew who that someone else was… Lucifer was hardly going to talk to him – well only if he made that stupid deal with him, Michael either for the same reasons; and Rapheal could be dropped face first in a meat grinder for all Castiel cared. Oh wait, he did and Castiel had to pay the price.

Gabriel remembered actually meeting the Horsemen himself once, back in the days when they still rode actual horses instead of luxury classic cars. Famine had downright creeped him out-the seemingly old man screaming his head off about how hungry he was and looking at those around him like pieces of meat for the barbecue. War he'd wanted to punch in the face, the smug bastard. Pestilence too, though he looked at Gabriel (or maybe just the vessel he had been inhabiting, he didn't know) as more of a guinea pig then a sacred container for an angel. But Death he liked, Death had a sense of humour and was willing to be civil. And the Horsemen could recommend some damn good pizza places to boot.

"Why? You guys thinking of going toe-to-toe with the Horsemen?" Gabriel asked, already suspecting the answer and already picturing the Winchesters getting themselves and his little brother killed in the attempt.

A tension of the jaw in Castiel's otherwise stoic features was all that came in response at fist, Castiel wasn't sure how Gabriel would react – and was a little cautious due to their recent history. "It is not just about the Winchester's." Castiel stated, knowing the opinions others had felt regarding Castiel's sentiments towards the boys. The voice gruff, as if the words came from a low growl in the pit of the angel's throat. "Our father gave this world to humanity, we were asked to bow before them, to guide and serve their will and needs. How is ripping apart their world in any way our right when all they do is fight so hard to stop it?" Castiel's body turned, eyeing Gabriel face to face with an inquisitive, yet stubborn look. "Where is their freewill in this; I will not take from them what our father gave with all his love."

Free will, a term so difficult for many angels to grasp, they were drilled to be soldiers

and little more, and for so long Castiel had held the same mentality. All those countless years of playing the perfect soldier, doing as he was told, seeing in only the black and white he was raised to see… Then all it took was one Dean Winchester to break down the faintest cracks that marred the excellence of his existence. Dean wasn't perfect, sometimes he was rather heartless in the things he said so offhand actually, but his ideals and determination were pure; all he wanted to do was save the world at any cost. If one man could face Heaven and Hell to keep his home and all the people in it safe with such vigilance, then surely that earned some respect. After all Jesus did it and he is highly respected in some cases, not all…


	7. Standing Up To Your Family

Did Castiel know he was lying to Gabriel? Or at the very least not giving him the full story? Gabriel wasn't really aware how good his lying skills were against angels, who tended to be a bit more in tune to that sort of thing. But whether he knew it or not, the younger angel didn't call him out on it, instead he went about answering his later question in possibly the most roundabout way Gabriel had ever heard. So, yes, in short, they were thinking of going up against the Horsemen. But the archangel couldn't help but tighten his jaw at his younger sibling's words on two fronts: one, of course it was about the Winchesters—Gabriel highly doubted that Castiel would ever think of going up against the Horsemen if it wasn't for those two. The Horsemen weren't demons—they were created by God as instruments of the Apocalypse, so technically they were on the side of Heaven. And pre-Dean Winchester Castiel would have never fathomed getting in the way of an instrument of God.

The second thing he disagreed with was Castiel's whole spiel about free will and the human right to their own planet. Sure, Gabriel supposed they had a right to live but of course, the humans that knew about their oncoming doom tried to stop it—it was nothing more than basic survival instinct on their part. But did the humans have any idea what it was doing to his family? He had just had to watch his younger brother kill three of his siblings and nearly kill a fourth over these humans instinct to continue their own existence. If the humans would just give it up and allow the Apocalypse to happen, to get over any silly hang-ups about death or the afterlife or whatever they had, let Lucifer have his little bitch-fit and have it be done…well there would be no more reason to fight, would there? Lucifer probably wouldn't be accepted back into Heaven (sure, the Apocalypse had been foretold since he was a fledgling angel but he had been a bit of a dick about it) but at the very least the fighting would stop. Why should they have to tear their own family apart for the sake of the humans?...But that was exactly the thinking that had gotten Lucifer a one way ticket downward into Hell. All of a sudden Gabriel wasn't as set in his pro-Apocalypse, 'Winchesters play your roles' way as he had been since this whole thing started up. He just didn't know any more.

He supposed this train of thought had played out on his face pretty much in real time to a brother who knew him well enough. Lucifer would have been able to read every single thought off of his expressions alone with zero doubt about his little brothers feelings. He would probably have encouraged this thought process, maybe tried to warp it to suite his needs, maybe not—Gabriel didn't know his older brother as well as he used to any more. No more then he knew if Castiel would be able to make a correct interpretation of his thoughts from his face.

"Got some of that free will for yourself there, huh?" Gabriel said with a slight smile, despite everything liking this new development in his brother, though his smile faded on his next words.

The thought hadn't entirely crossed Castiel's mind, it was still hard for him, easier to conceive the idea that he was merely bending the rules instead of out right breaking them. However that thought was pretty much out the window once you consider that as far as Heaven or Hell were concerned, there were only two ways this war would go, to either of those specific two sides; why didn't humanity get a chance in their plans? Castiel eyed Gabriel enough that it was clear the younger Angel was a little torn between wondering if Gabriel considered any air of freewill a good or bad thing in this scenario.

"Though I'd like it better if you didn't do leaping into Death's arms-this whole thing with the Horsemen is just plain stupid" Gabriel continued…

A frown settled on Castiel's brow as he listened to his brother talk, there was concern in the eyes, for more then just Castiel dislodging the pre-destined plans set in motion. Did Gabriel really worry about Castiel just 'throwing his life away' as the elder suggested? It was hard to trust his siblings nowadays, between hunting Castiel, the torture, the threats, the beating him around, the whole killing him off thing as well, Lucifer's deal, it all was getting too much.

"Have you got any idea how powerful those bastards are? How ancient they are? People say Death is at least as old as our Father…"

The hesitance in Castiel's gaze as he shifted eye contact suggested that he was aware, that perhaps he even feared the idea, yet was going ahead with it regardless. The vague flicker of apprehension grew that little brighter as Gabriel continued.

"The Horsemen can affect our vessels, Castiel, even mine, so you can forget about even getting within five feet of them let alone close enough to stop them from doing their thing."

That sounded, unnerving, Castiel's frown remained settled once more on the archangel as he finished up.

"You should know better, let the Winchesters go get themselves killed trying to stop them."

Clearly the mention of the humans dying caused some form of upset inside of Castiel, which had been attempted to be kept out of sight of the elder sibling. Whether Gabriel would be swayed by the chosen approach or still anger at the interference, Castiel could only wait, watching the others expression and inwardly bracing himself for any retaliation. Clearly there was some sort of thought process going on, though Castiel had not had the amount of time he'd have liked to grow as close to his older siblings before loyalties began to split as he would of wanted to. They all had developed so tight a bond and it was hard sometimes finding the time needed to spend with them between various chores, tasks and not to mention the different levels of Heaven each resided in and were busy watching over. Then there was Gabriel's decent to Earth and soon enough him parading around as a Pagan God, it felt like much time together had been robbed from them due to this never ending fight. Still, it was clear there was some doubt, or some sort of hesitance, something that might be able to be talked around into seeing things a different way.

"The Winchester's weren't the ones, who tore me from my vessel for speaking my mind, nor did they force me to betray my sister, and they weren't the ones who exploded me without an air of regret in their eyes." The words were strained to remain level, steady, the raw emotion bubbling deep within barely contained under the façade of composure. Anna was a sore spot, amongst all the emotional wounds that lay beneath the barriers, she was more an infection, the guilt festered more painful then that of the slice in his side. "There are three sides to this war, Gabriel. What right do we have to declare that humanity has no say in it, when it involves their home, and their families too? What makes our brethren so much better that we can treat our father's creation, his children, as ants to be stepped upon?" There was more to all this then just Dean's words which had opened the angel's eyes, or in fact that Lucifer tried dealing with. Castiel was the Angel of Thursday, by God's will he was tasked with guiding people during transition, by divine rights Castiel was a guardian of these very people that his family was threatening.

How can any of them turn their backs on the very beings that their father had them guide and console for so many countless of their generations? He hadn't been the first Angel to realize that something was off with the orders pouring down from heaven, yet it really started to feel like he had been stuck right in the middle of it all, and sometimes it felt like a very lonely place to be. Surely Gabriel could understand on some level, even if he exiled himself from their home, even if it had been by choice not to return, Gabriel had to have felt the loneliness of losing touch with the family he had grown up with, and that was all because the archangel had a different view on the matter. He didn't want to pick one side over the other, but in itself, that isolated the heavenly being and confined his options to but a few; run and hide and avoid it all.

"You're right, it wasn't the Winchesters—all that was the dicks we have to call our family! Raphael was the one who turned you into finger paint, though really he's always been kind of a douchebag. No, instead the Winchesters are treating you as their own personal holy WMD—the two of them are so busy making angsty puppy eyes at each other and lamenting their own destinies they can't be bothered to give a shit about the eventual hell they're dragging you into!" Gabriel shot back, almost able to feel his temper slowly getting the best of him.

A perplexed squint of Castiel's eyes flickered into view at the mention of being their 'WMD', though the rise of frustration quickly drowned it out. Not that Gabriel was unjust in his complaints, Castiel had more then once felt Dean had been a little too absorbed in his own problems to consider Castiel's. Some of the commentary slung the angel's way wasn't always the most pleasing or sympathetic or understanding… There had been times the two had seen eye to eye., however, and those times had been potent enough to see Castiel through some of the very things Gabriel stressed about. The archangel was furious, Castiel was still recovering from the betrayal of Rapheal's careless disposal of him back at Chuck's house. It made the situation more then just a little uncomfortable.

"And I like humans ,I really do Cas, but I'd throw them under the bus in a heartbeat at this point if it meant all of this bullshit stopped. Because in the end, the only ones that are going to lose here is us—cause lemme tell yah, unless this Apocalypse train gets back on track again all the fighting that's been going on? The deaths and the in-fighting and everything else? Just like I said back in that warehouse: none of it's ever gonna stop and pretty soon no one's gonna be left standing; they'll all have killed each other!... So I say let Michael and Lucifer have at it, it's better than Heaven destroying itself trying to make it happen!"

There was anger, real heart felt pain that burned to the core of the elder being, had things been different Castiel may not have hesitated in offering some sort of support, right now the lower angel found himself rather glued; resembling a deer before oncoming rays of light that one couldn't tell as being from a car or perhaps a sunrise.

So maybe humans were better than angels would ever be, but Gabriel had been on Earth long enough to know that the great blue spinning ball and all of the people in it were cold comfort when then homesickness really kicked in. And in the Archangels eyes it would only be worse when there was no home to go back to anymore, if all the angels destroyed themselves in the aftermath of the failed Apocalypse. To him in that moment as before the reverse of Castiel's assertions were true—just because humans were better why did it have to mean the angels had to all end up throwing themselves onto the fire just to save them?

So maybe Dean Winchester was right, maybe what he'd said back in their warehouse in the aftermath of his little TV land trick had been true: maybe Gabriel was too much of a coward to stand up to his family. Maybe it was because he had been alive to long, maybe he'd experienced to much of the Heaven he considered home, been allowed to get too close to his own family. Maybe he was the biggest coward of them all; maybe he should just join the ranks of Team Winchester and start shanking his family left and right in the valiant effort to save humanity. But where did Dean get off telling him that when he could never bare to do the same with his brother? Back in the days when Big Jonny Winchester told Dean that Sam would turn evil, when he'd been addicted to the demon blood, before he'd royally fucked his whole species over and killed Lilith, Dean still didn't 'stand up to his family'.

And besides, say they did win. Say those humans stopped the Apocalypse one way or another, the Earth got to keep all its humans and said humans got to go on with their everyday lives, and Heaven was just left to kill each other until no one else was left. Then where would either of them be? All that would be left was Castiel, those god damned Winchesters and Gabriel (if he managed to keep his ass alive and out of the fighting that is). No home. No Heaven. No brothers or sisters or Father. Just left to wander around in a world full of humans until they died, went bat shit insane or the world ended some other way. In Gabriel's mind they could take that offer and shove it up their asses. Thanks but no thanks.


	8. Farewells

Gabriel shook his head and sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and thanked Dad his vessel couldn't get stress migraines. He let his hands fall back down to his sides with an air of giving up. The fact he wasn't being allowed to just hide his head in the sand and wait out the fighting any more was exactly what he needed. His options were being picked off one by one like teenagers in another bad Freddie Kruger remake and the ones left weren't looking all that appealing: join Heaven and be stripped of everything that made Gabriel Gabriel, join the Winchesters and have to kill his own family for the sake of humans, or join Lucifer and have the entire world and Heaven turn against him. If there was ever a time for Daddy dearest to really start giving a shit about his kids and his pet project now would be it.

The sigh that came would have been enough to snap Castiel out of his mild trance, having found himself almost waiting for the anger to spill out and overflow with fatal consequences. The problem however, was with Gabriel raising his hand, in the similar way Rapheal had done before snapping his chocolate hued fingers; the thought that Gabriel was about to remove Castiel from the picture and get the 'train back on track', as he referred to the apocalypse being, was so blinding that Castiel couldn't help but close his eyes.

"So tell me, Cas, really."

The younger sibling opened his eyes as Gabriel began talking, feeling inwardly disorientated at the fact nothing happened and the other's tone of voice had dropped.

" What's the right way here? What would Dad want me to do? 'Cause honestly…with the God Squad after me trying to drag me back home and do Lord knows what to me…I'm running out of options here, man. And I am just sick and tired of it, of all the fighting, and of freaking Dean Winchester calling me the bad guy and the coward here for just wanting it to be over." he said, all of his previous anger and conviction seemingly having gone clean out of the archangel.

Human's could be hypocritical at times, or all the time, Castiel had seen it before, and could see it at times in the Winchesters. Just because Dean said it though didn't mean he knew the truth, and all this was such an emotional rollercoaster for the human, it wasn't surprising there were certain things that just took its toll on the man.

As for what would dad want? Castiel had no idea, he was still trying to figure out if God actually brought him back for a reason, to give him another chance at helping the Winchester's or just for the fun of watching Castiel squirm for him siding with the brothers. Gabriel was asking for advice… or at least just thinking out loud and allowing Castiel to voice some sort of comment on the subject. The desire to avoid further bloodshed was obvious, the dislike of being forced back to Heaven also, so really there did seem like so few options Gabriel had left; the war was here, and someone, somewhere, insisted that Gabriel join the fight. However, it felt selfish for Castiel to want Gabriel on his side, selfish to demand that the archangel join him in what would definitely lead to their exile, even the possibility of being cut off from Heaven entirely. The idea frightened Castiel, though he'd see it through with a heavy heart, would it be fair to drag his elder sibling down with him?

"Someone up there is ordering our brothers and sisters to hunt us down, to kill us or drag us back, if anything was worth dying for, Gabriel, I would think figuring out who is giving these false orders and stopping them would be it. And it just feels as if doing that runs along the same 'track' as 'derailing' the apocalypse." The insistence in Castiel's voice had dimmed from his previous attempts of getting his message across, instead now there seemed a slightly more withdrawn though stubborn stance from before. "I don't want any more of my siblings blood on my hands, but their blind faith in Rapheal before whoever else it may be, is the real thing that is killing them. Who in their right mind sends mere soldiers to drag you back, their death would only have been spared by your complete cooperation, it was suicide." And that was the point though, wasn't it?

Here Gabriel was preaching the sins of the Winchester's sending Castiel off on fools errands, and yet were their brothers not doing exactly the same thing? "So maybe I am being treated carelessly, but who isn't? At least here I choose my suicide mission." Gabriel was powerful, he could force Castiel into silence without even a blink, toss the Angel half way through the planet with his pinky finger or drop Castiel in one of his warped realities. "Isn't there something here you are willing to fight for?" It was foolish to say Castiel held no fear in speaking his mind to his brother, yet they were taking; and so far that's all that they were doing. That had to mean something, right? The words were smoothly dragged out, forced by sheer will power to keep the brave face, and yet softly enough spoken that the stubborn angel clearly felt an air of trepidation while not being sure which way Gabriel was leaning.

Both of them had calmed now and with the veil of his own temper lifted Casitel's words actually managed to work themselves into Gabriel's head. His younger sibling made it sound so valiant, so righteous and worthy. He had to admit that even he had questioned who in their right mind would send normal soldiers after an archangel, but without Castiel's input it had been nothing more than a passing query. But he pursed his lips as he held back a frown at his brother's talk of choosing his own suicide missions—he didn't want him to have to choose any at all. That was his whole point of the side he picked—or once picked, since it seemed that side was getting smaller and smaller by the second.

He did pause a moment to give Castiel's question some thought however. What was he willing to die for? Was there anything on Earth he would want to try and save? His own sappy sentimental nature told him that Kali dying in all this was not a thought he ever wanted to entertain, and something deep and base inside of him commanded him to protect the humans he had been asked to bow to. And hadn't Dad been right all along? Wasn't that the reason Lucifer had been cast down, because he disagreed with their Father? It just seemed that now everyone had lost sight of that fact. Gabriel supposed that a human in his shoes would immediately think to their family, but the majority of Gabriel's family was the ones behind this—all besides Castiel and only a few others, so few he could count them on both hands. A tiny fraction of the multitudes of angels up in Heaven. He had always been taught as an archangel his duty was to defend and guide his younger siblings in their father's absence. Alright, then, fine. If the Winchesters side was the only one that wouldn't get him brainwashed or turn him evil then he'd do it for them, for the remaining few of his brothers and sisters with some sense in their heads.

But God did it feel like he was chickening out.

In any case he nodded to Castiel's final question, not willing to get all sappy and reveal who or what those things were, at least not now, in any other way then to look right back at Castiel. Let the socially challenged angel interpret that however he pleased, Gabriel certainly wasn't about to enlighten him further. "Fine." He said with a sigh bordering on melodramatic, "Count me in, I guess you guys are better than being a brainwashed zombie." And one other thing: "You don't have to be scared of me, you dork." Gabriel said, walking forward to give his little brother a light flick on the nose, "I'm not Michael, or Lucifer, or Raphael—I'd never blow you to smithereens over some stupid Prophet…Duct tape your mouth shut and rough you up a bit, sure, but I draw the line at explosions."

There had been a time however that only Lucifer had ever seemed dangerous enough to snap to that extreme. Now it felt as if every other angel out there was ready and willing to smite one another, and for what? Definitely not God's will, that was about as much as Castiel knew for certain.

Gabriel was smirking towards the end of his words, but he was serious. He might lose his temper or shove Castiel out of his way a bit too hard but he would never dream of hurting the little nerd angel. But there was no solid reason for the deer-in-the-headlights look Castiel had adopted when Gabriel had been losing his temper or any hesitance he had to speak his mind to Gabriel. They weren't exactly the picture perfect brothers but if the Winchester knew one thing it was that brothers should never fear each other—a few punches now and again were basically healthy. And the idea of Castiel being so afraid of Gabriel he didn't speak his mind or air any of his grievances with him just didn't sit right.

There was a nod, not a very informative nod, but a nod had to be good, right? A moment of further study and Gabriel still neglected to offer further explanation on what exactly he had agreed with. Hopefully it was a yes to having something to fight for on Earth, which was enough for Castiel, if that actually was the case.

An exaggerated statement was better thing, then a snap of ones fingers, and Castiel couldn't help but feel he had definitely gained some valuable ground here. Relief eased some of the tension, though he wasn't yet prepared to deal with how to inform Dean or Sam about Gabriel's agreement to help them out. For now, Castiel just wanted to be happy that he had a sibling on his side. Sometimes Gabriel seemed more human then the Angel Castiel remembered growing up, and while that made it a little hard at times to understand certain things, it also made Gabriel more three dimensional. Perhaps a hell of a lot more unpredictable, but the benefits the archangel seemed to gain from his taste of humanity made it seem worthwhile. Still, the flick on the nose caused Castiel to stare, a little awkward on how to reply to that, though feeling a little rather exposed at having his anxiety being so clearly obvious. Dork, what did that mean!?

"I appreciate that." Saying Castiel was still edgy over the whole ordeal would just be crying over spilt blood, for now there were more things to be worried about. "Do you have somewhere safe to go… or…" Somehow Castiel couldn't imagine Gabriel lounging around at Bobby's, which oddly enough seemed the only safe haven Castiel had at this point, there was some sort of strangely homely feel forming around that junk yard. Not everyone would feel that way, especially around a human's home, Castiel didn't want to force Gabriel onto people, the only reason to do so would be if they needed to. The idea of Gabriel being hunted was worrisome at best, the thought of him having nowhere to hide unacceptable; then again the archangel had done pretty well over the years, maybe there were a few places he could still crawl under during all this mess. Otherwise there were wards they could put up in certain locations that would hide them from Heaven's sight… Castiel just doubted that Gabriel would want to hang around with Dean and Co, assuming Castiel could find the Winchesters. "Actually, have you any idea where Dean or Sam are?" The change in subject also brought forth a change in tone, the Angel of Thursday found himself almost hoping that for Gabriel's previous focus on the boys had warranted the archangel keeping tabs. This thought brought some hope to the otherwise dreary task of searching for them, though with them being a blind spot for Angels, Gabriel would have gone out of his way, that might not have seemed worthwhile an effort. Still, it was worth asking.

Castiel's lack of reaction to Gabriel's slight teasing gesture had the archangel grinning—it seemed Castiel hadn't gotten enough hours in around humans to know how to react to such a thing yet. He didn't even wrinkle his nose up, just stood there a bit awkwardly and stared back at him. However it was good that his brother seemed to relax a little bit around him, and he hoped the notion that Gabriel would never hurt him (seriously, anyway) would eventually allow Castiel to trust him a bit more. If he were going to be joining this Team Whatever-They'd-Decided-To-Call-Themselves, Gabriel could use all the trust he could get from his team mates. He didn't need one of them deciding not to have his back in a pinch just because they thought they couldn't trust him.

Now as far as Gabriel having hiding places he could think of a few right off the top of his head—most of them right smack in the middle of a populated city where hopefully the presence of humans would be enough to cover him. There was always that apartment in LA with his dog or that little flat in the middle of London with the old landlady who still prayed at night. But then again was that really the best idea? If the angels came after him would those humans just get hurt? He would take the time to pick his hidey-hole more carefully later, at the very least he had a few places to go.

"Yeah, I've still got a few places I can lay low for a while." Gabriel replied, wondering what Castiel would have done if he'd replied that he didn't, in fact, have a place to go. That was something at least, it made addressing the new addition to the team a lot easier then having to add 'by the by, can he crash here' to what they would already be complaining about.

"Not sure if they're safe but I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself. Spread a couple hex bags around and I'll be just peachy." On the question of the Winchesters whereabouts Gabriel actually had a straight answer. He had been keeping tabs on those boys, partly looking for the perfect time to exact some revenge on them for overdoing the whole 'put out the holy fire' thing and soaking him to the bone. The sigils carved into the ribs made it much harder than it had to be to keep track of them himself, so Gabriel had resorted to word of mouth in the supernatural community—wherever the Winchesters turned up every supernatural creature within a hundred miles that values their life and had enough of a brain to do so tended to skip town. Last he checked had been a few days ago in a moment of mind numbing boredom – the brothers had been somewhere in North Dakota on the trail of what they didn't yet know was a Water Wraith. But apparently all that researching and library trips somehow kept the boys away from their cell phones if Castiel was resorting to asking him about it.

What if Gabriel was attacked again? The idea of the elder sibling being out there on his own was hardly appealing either, though Castiel couldn't be picky at this point, either he dragged his brother back to the junk yard and dealt with a possible blow out there, or he let Gabriel head off and they hope for the best. If anything happened to Gabriel… Castiel just had to make sure nothing did, besides, the archangel stood a better chance against those sent against him then Castiel did, so he was probably over thinking the situation.

"Last I checked they were somewhere in North Dakota on a hunt, didn't bother getting an exact location though." Gabriel said with a shrug, since it wasn't exactly his job to watch the brothers every little move. For the moment Gabriel was wondering how Castiel was going to exactly break the news of his change of loyalties to the brothers. Telling them straight forward probably wouldn't work and Gabriel wasn't about to explain himself to those idiots, at least not give enough of a true answer to satisfy them. And even if he had Castiel's good word and his own valid reasons the brothers probably still would take an annoyingly long time to even not watch their backs every time he walked into a room or pull their guns whenever he snapped his fingers. Gabriel could already tell the whole thing was already going to be one giant pain in the ass.

Well, the area was smaller then searching out a whole world, so it was helpful regardless when Gabriel said North Dakota. It was going to be awkward integrating everyone into a coherent team, considering the issues they had in the past, however Castiel had his own hiccups with the brothers, hopefully they would be as forgiving for Gabriel's actions as they had been for some of Castiel's. Whatever happened, no one had the luxury to be picky, they needed all the help they could get.

"I need to find them, as well as anyone else that might be able to help" It wasn't an ask for help, though any assistance wouldn't be declined, it was a manageable enough task for now that didn't need an archangel feeling forced to help out with. That would be up to Gabriel, "If you can't reach me, try Bobby's… just make sure to knock at his door first." There was a slight frown, though it was more from considering where to go from here. Bobby's could be an idea, rest up a little, give a chance for himself to heal, though there was so much to do, and Castiel felt so far behind. The priority had to be gathering information for now, things were happening, and Castiel had wasted enough time being dead, as long there were only cuts and bruises, then there was little reason to stop and rest. With a final look at Gabriel. "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see that Day approaching." Castiel quoted from the bible itself, and then the younger brother vanished off, a dash of air and flurry of feathered wings the only goodbye offered.


	9. The Host Of Heaven

The Lost Bard Inn was a four star remote motel about twenty or so miles away from the main land. The Lost Barn also stood for The Lost Prophet which Gabriel hoped the boys would pick up on. The only way anyone can get to it is following the signs tailgating from Route 200. Route 200, known locally as Saddle Road, traverses the width of the Island of Hawaii from downtown Hilo to its junction with Hawaii Route 190 near Waimea. The road is considered one of the most dangerous paved roads in the states, with many one-lane bridges and areas marginally maintained pavements. Most of the road has now been repaved and major parts have new re-alignments to modern standards. The highway reaches a maximum elevation of six thousand six hundred and thirty two and is subject to fog and low visibility.

The entrance to the motel can be seen at a set of cross roads leading onto to what seems to be a dirt track or an entrance to a farm or a field. The road is very uneven but evens out the closer to the motel people get, which leads to a car park that could easily hold up to around fifty cars. The motel was tropical themed with exotic plants and pictures of animals. There's a tank of tropical fish on occasional window sills and some military tanks just for show with a model helicopter and boat figurines seemingly lying at the bottom of the sea. Some fish can be very unpredictable such as the Anabantoidei perciform ray-finned freshwater fish, distinguished by their possession of a lung-like labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. They sometimes jump out of their water tanks into the arms of passers by. There was also a couple of pictures of the famous plane crash Oceanic 815 and a model plane lying about the place too.

Gabriel thought it was irony to add these kind of features to the hotel. The boys, meaning Sam and Dean would have no choice to stop here. The road had just so happened been closed until further notice due to an accident forcing the brothers to stop the night at the nearby hotel/motel. This was all part of the plan that had been set up for Sam and Dean. A bowl of sweets had been placed on the bedside cabinet of room number four, where the brothers were going to stay the night. The two men always fell for the same trick, they never realize the sweets till the last minute and that always entertained Gabriel.

Dean should really listen to his brother when Sam said /keep driving/. He, somehow always seemed to pick the campest hotel/motel there is. It was a bit cheesy with the way it was designed and something Dean wouldn't pick intentionally. However the frigging road was closed ahead and he had no choice to stop by this place, weather Sam liked it or not. There was no other place around for miles and they were in the middle of nowhere. No gas station, no shops and they needed a place to stay, something to eat and somewhere they could wash. Somehow Dean came to the conclusion that they wouldn't be able to do that in the back of a V8 327, 4 Barrell 275bhp, 3-spd auto transmissions, mainly six seats, Cargar 330 Super Sport wheels, BFGoodrich Radials tires, '67 Chevrolet Impala, License number plate currently, CNK 80Q3. Dean's baby, if she was a woman, she'd be awesome!

With the consumption of souls having increased his power to God like status, Castiel was now able to be omnipresent and omnipotent, this enables him to find Dean without having to phone him. Not finding the brothers anywhere in North Dekota where Gabriel had told him they were hunting a Water Wreath, Castiel guessed they had moved on to the next hunt and he knew it was just a tad too confrontational to wake Dean to talk; he decides to use another method of communication. He had heard from Gabriel about the boys whereabouts after doing a little digging around.

Is this what humans call irony? Thought Castiel as he looked around the motel room which has a nautical Hawaiian theme to it. Framed photographs of paradise islands, palm trees and turquoise waters line the pale blue painted wall above the TV. Above each bed are framed pictures of what appears to be oceanic flight aircraft wreckage and aerial views of pearl harbour, on the bed side cabinet between the two beds housed several hula dolls in various coloured grass skirts.

Using his ability to inject himself into Dean's dreams, he takes a moment to watch the events unfold in the mind of Dean Winchester, staying in the shadows he chooses the right moment to reveal his presence to Dean. He watches as Dean makes his way out of the room and into the bathroom, silently he watches the man whistling to himself as he sits down on the toilet seat and picks up a magazine which has been left behind by a previous occupant Castiel chooses now to reveal himself.

"Dean?... Dean?...Listen to me Dean Winchester, I have somewhere I want you and Sam to go. There is a supply ship circling Suva Fiji, it is looking for a particular place and I want you and Sam to get on board the freighter and find the place the crew are looking for. This is important Dean, literally life and death. You must get on board the Kahana at all costs. Once on-board make your way to the Captains stateroom, there you will find a library of maps, books and charts. Search through everything, You'll know what you are looking for when you find it."

Sam was sleeping much to Dean's relief. He was pleased they managed to get his soul back, thanks to Death... of all people. Dean had to give it too the horseman, he helped Sam quite a lot, what with the wall blocking Sam's soul from it's Hell experience, and Death didn't have to help the way he did. In fact Death was the very last person Dean would have thought, that would agree to help. He wouldn't want to be in Death shoes right this minute, when Dean wore the ring and following this natural order of things, that apparently Sam and himself keep breaking, Dean would prefer this cheesy motel of a place to walking in Death shoes any day. He had his brother back the rest of the world could go screw itself for the night.

All this played over in Dean's mind has he made his way through to the closet. Someone once asked him how he slept at night. Truth is, he didn't know, only when he ran out of quarters and he needed another vibration session could he truly sleep! He thought he heard movement coming from outside the bathroom, then suddenly... a voice he recognized as Castiels. "No, no I won't bloody listen, Cas, I'm taking a crap get out!" Looking up at Castiel, he realised something... quickly pulling up his jeans, he tossed the magazine down. "I'm dreaming aren't I? DUDE, why am I dreaming about taking a crap? WHY are you watching me take a crap, in my dream!?"

Before he could continue with his protest, Castiel gave him a set of instructions with the straightest, no expression upon his face what so ever. "How am I supposed to get to Fiji Cas? That's miles away from here and answer me a question, why would I do anything for you? If I didn't know you, I would want to hunt you"

Watching Dean sitting on the toilet trying to cross his legs and modestly cover himself with the magazine Castiel moves his head to the side and frowns. Not understanding the reason for Dean's re-action to his presence in the bathroom. When will humans realise that, angels have seen them naked, and on the toilet and in the shower and bath before? This is nothing new he remembered when God created the first human, Adam, the heavenly host of angels knew him as "Ish" and Ish was never embarrassed with any human bodily functions. All guardian angels watch their subjects every move wherever they may be.

Knowing this was going to be a very difficult conversation to have, made all the more awkward with Dean being somewhat vulnerable without being awake. Not wanting to reveal too much information about why he wanted the Winchester boys to go to Fiji, Castiel chose to play the "God-Father" role as he saw on TV to make Dean an offer he couldn't refuse

"Dean Winchester, I am your new God, you saw what I have done recently to people who try and follow my word caved in sins. If you do not do what I say, I will kill you, do you understand? And if you choose to die, be aware I will kill Sam and Bobby before I kill you". Castiel knew Dean was "gung-ho" and not as concerned about his own life as he was about his family around him. He knew Dean's weaknesses and he hoped this was enough ammunition to persuade Dean and Sam to go to Fiji, without any more questions asked, Castiel clicks his fingers and Dean wakes.

"Very convincing Castiel" Gabriel claps as the angel appeared.

"I'm not in a very good mood Gabriel" Castiel waved of anymore comments made by his old brother. He was looking a bit worse for ware as the souls scrapped at the inside of him. "Any word on the boy?" Castiel asked

"Well Lucifer still thinks he is in Nebraska lets just keep it that way. I've been chasing up strange patterns but it turns out to be to some high flying demon. The boy is keeping himself well and truly hidden, between you and I Castiel, if the boy doesn't want to be found he won't be."

Dean wakes with jolt and opens his eyes pretty quick to be faced with the bright sun light drifting in through the window. It took a moment to recognize where he was and if it wasn't for the tropical kind of music playing through the radio clock on the cabinet beside his bed, he would have thought he just woke up on a desert island. He switched of the alarm and pulled himself out of bed. Grabbing a handful of sherbet lemons that were left in a dish on the cabinet too and popped half a dozen in his mouth. He grabbed Sam's shoulder and shook him awake. "Sam, wake up, we have to go to Fiji, damn it!"

Climbing to his full height, he stretched. He didn't fully understand the task, Castiel had given him and those posters above his bed were slightly disorientating. Why would anyone think a plane crash would make good furniture? He had never heard of the Oceanic 815 crash, and if it was so important wouldn't he have heard something. It would have probably been on the news everywhere. Surely if it had anything to with a demonic flight he would have been on it, trying to stop the son of bitch. Watching Sam prop himself up and rub his eyes he answers Sam's questions before he can ask them.

"Yes Fiji, Sam, Cas wants us to make our way onto a freighter called the Kahana, he said we would know what we are looking for when we find it" now in the bathroom and speaking with his mouth full of tooth bush and toothpaste and popping his head around the door frame every now and again to ensure Sam hadn't gone back to sleep, Dean continues to mumble in toothbrush talk. Animated and unaware that Sam has no idea what he is talking about, Dean forms words which Sam understands every now and again, Island, Fiji, Kahana, charts, Castiel. Wiping his mouth and packing his toiletry bag away Dean heads back to where his over night bag is and pulls out his clean clothes. looking at Sam he says "We are going Sam and that's final."

Sam flops back onto the bed and pulls the covers over his face hoping this is nothing more than a bad dream from which he will wake any moment. He squeezes, shut his eyes and re-opens them, pulling back the covers, he looks around the room, nope, not a dream, standing right beside his bed, glaring down at him, was Dean, awaiting for him to get up.

"Let me get this straight" he says, "we are going to travel thousands of miles Dean, what because an angel turned god/devil says so - I just don't see the point here! Did he give you any indication of what he expects us to do when we get on board this freighter? or what it is we are looking for?" Sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed Sam stands up and walks straight toward the bathroom. Shouting through the door so Dean can hear him, he asks "Dean, look around you, are you sure you didn't have a dream based on this room? by the door is a photo of a map of Fiji, above each bed are photos of Pearl Harbour and oceanic flight 815 wreckage respectively, above the television are posters of tropical desert islands, did you possibly consider this could all be a figment of your imagination, brought on by your surroundings?"

Sam hadn't told Dean about his dream about the Castiel, Lucifer and Gabriel episode, that he was still trying to contemplate if it was real or not. Of course it wasn't real, Gabriel had died, Lucifer was in Hell and Castiel was playing God. Okay maybe that wasn't the strangest thing he had heard but it was up there with the top. His mind was just playing tricks on hi, which is why he thought the same about Dean.

Across the other side of Planet Earth, a boy looked out the window at a disserted park. With a blink of an eye the park disappeared and replaced with a huge cage. Blood gripped down the sides of the cage and in the middle locked up sat Lucifer. This didn't faze the boy what so ever, the boy didn't feel anything for the fallen angel that people mostly feared, even though they were connected. They called him the antichrist but he didn't feel any kind of obedience to The Devil, or to go around spreading the word of Satan like Jesus did for his Father. He had a choice, use his powers in a good or bad way. "They are coming for me" Jesse said.

"Don't worry, I am The Host Of Heaven, as long as you obey me and use your powers how I tell you too, everything will be fine" A deep voice appeared in the shadows and paused slightly, he stood out the shadows and light flickered over the mans face. He looked his left and held out his hand "Right Eve?"

The woman took his hand with an innocent smile "Right Adam…"


End file.
